User reviews

One of the factors that can add to the excitement and tension of the adulterous affair is the danger of being caught. Add to that, the fierce and idiosyncratic passion often attributed to artists. Then make the artist a raving psychopath and you have a pretty heady mix.

So finds the story of Asylum, Director David Mackenzie's further foray into shadowy worlds of sexual obsession, violence and madness. Stella (Natasha Richardson) is wearily married to Max (Hugh Bonneville), a psychiatrist working in a 1950s hospital for the criminally insane. He is overbearing to the point of being monstrous (by modern standards), joking to her about her being his 'pet patient' whilst expecting her to be a no-brainer wife who says the right things when introduced socially. In the initial build up, Mackenzie let's us see the smouldering lust in the face of inmate Edgar, who's incarcerated for murdering and decapitating his wife in a jealous rage. Just as he did with his previous movie, Young Adam, Mackenzie excels at portraying barely sublimated animal sensuality, which soon bursts across the screen in a way that is at once base and beautiful. Helen knows how insane Edgar is, and her feelings for him, but she is gradually drawn into his web of madness, together with her son.

Visually splendid in dank, grey tones, Asylum is an explosion of repressed sexuality that is frightening in its force and surprising in its ending. Natasha Richardson is fantastic as an ignored woman with a desire to be desired that wreaks destruction. Morbid, unsettling, erotic and deeply disturbing.

Romantic thriller Asylum is a fairly intriguing adaptation of a same-titled McGrath novel, rewritten into a script by the man who wrote Closer -- Patrick Marber. Keeping this in mind whilst watching, it is impossible not to notice similarities in writing between the two films. Like Closer, Asylum is very much a study of human relationships and sexuality and both heavily explore the theme of infidelity. Also, Marber seems to have a thing for having his male character pushing up women against a wall and confronting them with their cheating -- often using violence and crude language. Just an observation.

Moving away from Closer, in Asylum desperate housewife Stella (Natasha Richardson) is bored with her passionless life and dreads every day of being a good little 1950s wife to her stiff husband, who holds an important position as a doctor at a mental asylum nearby. Strolling her garden with her son one day, Stella meets mental patient Edgar who is working for them as their gardener. There is instant forbidden chemistry and the two engage in an illicit affair that soon blossoms into a passionate romance that is shadowed by more than just lust -- it is the fear of getting caught, there is sexual obsession, morbid jealousy on Edgar's part and a great deal of violence ensuing. It all sounds pretty juicy and it is at times so this isn't the kind of movie you want to watch with your parents.

Marton Csokas (whom I haven't seen in much) is perfect for the role of sexy madman Edgar who is so smokin' hot with desire and jealousy that his presence is felt in scenes he isn't even in. Mackenzie shows us the allure of Edgar and make us see why Stella is so attracted to him (in spite of his violent nature) and at the same time makes us see that WE could never be attracted to him. Why not? Because it all comes down to the mental state of Stella and what she needs in her life. I thought the mental state part was handled somewhat sloppily even though we see foreshadowing events. In the end, Asylum is a well-crafted and intense thriller as it succeeds in creating a dark atmosphere throughout and it is, for the most part, well-acted by a respected cast.

7/10

This very dark film, set in England in the lae 1950's is definitely not for children since it contains some very disturbing scenes and events. Though most of it is set in a mental hospital and deals with mental illness, it is not one of those films like "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" or even "Angel Baby" that romanticizes and sentimentalizes the subject. So don't expect that. Rather it is a more realistic examination of the fine line that sometimes separates so-called normal people from the mad. But make no mistake, there is a line.

Stella Raphael(Natasha Richardson) arrives with her husband (Hugh Bonneville) and young son Charley at the hospital where he has accepted a live-in position. There are rumors that another psychiatrist, Peter Cleve(Sir Ian McKellen)may have been in line for the same position. Stella does not fit in with the other wives. She is younger, more smartly dressed(one of her hats looks for all the world like a UFO) and less traditional in every way. And the hospital culture is clearly one that expects women to keep a low profile and not make waves. Since their posh living quarters have a full-time servant, there is not a lot for her to do, but she does take up gardening, and Charley makes friends with Edgar(Marton Csokas, a trusted "pet patient" of Dr. Cleve). Stella is also drawn to the handsome and magnetic Edgar,a sculptor, despite being warned that he is there for killing his wife violently. They dance together at a staff-patient party, and soon after have a hurried coupling in the garden shed. After that, it is furtive, animalistic sex whenever and wherever they can. One day Edgar, against Stella's better judgment comes to her in her own bedroom, where he is seen by her mother-in-law, a disdainful woman who has clearly never liked her. After Edgar steals some cash from the dresser and seizes the opportunity to escape, things rapidly deteriorate in the Raphael home. There is also another shift. Stella's husband, who at first, seemed cold and repressive, almost deserving of being cuckolded, becomes more likable, and in one of the final scenes of the movie, shows that he has probably loved Stella after all. Edgar, on the other hand, reveals himself to be jealous and unpredictable at best, and at worst, violent durng a time when he and Stella attempt a beatnik life in London with another Australian artist friend of his. And what of the inscrutable Dr. Cleve? Does he really want to help patients or is he a power-hungry manipulator? One of the reasons I compared this film to Betty Blue is aprtly because of some of the disturbingly violent acts of characters, but also because it shows that survival instincts sometimes don't have anything to do with madness or sanity. Whatdoes not kill me does not necessarily make me stronger--sometimes it just makes me crazier and more self-destructive.

Martin Csokas is an actor I had never heard of before but would certainly like to see more of him.

Anyone calling Natasha Richardson's Stella Rafael a "sexually bored housewife" is Not Paying Attention. What happens to her and to Marton Csokas' Edgar is a thunderbolt--a life changing charge that flashes through them both and changes them forever. They have much more in common with Heathcliff and Cathy (of "Wuthering Heights") than any other lovers I've seen on screen in the 21st century: consumed, obsessed to the point of (and beyond) madness in one another, not out of selfishness but out of a cosmic passion that takes them both utterly by surprise. Certainly, Edgar is a pathologically jealous man: mad, bad and dangerous to know. But madmen can fall in love, too, and he is taken entirely unawares by his passion for the icy, closed-off Stella. What seems on the surface to be a re-enactment of "Lady Chatterly's Lover" turns into the darkest of passion plays. Neither the writer nor the director succumbed to the temptation to make this a sentimental romance or a soap opera; these are dangerous people making dangerous choices, and sometimes dangerous, even tragic mistakes. Like Heathcliff and Cathy, there is no way this story is going to have a happy ending, or these people anything but a tortured denouement. But they are fascinating to watch while they do it.

Marton Csokas absolutely burns through the screen, all fire and smoky, mad eyes to counter Richardson's ice cool yet profoundly moved Stella. Together they heat up to the boiling point and spill over into an explosive combination of lust, love, and tragedy. Ian McKellan's smirking Peter the Freudian is wonderful as the manipulative puppet-master who is not really as clever as he thinks he is. Alas, Hugh Bonneville plays Stella's husband as a one-dimensional cartoon. It's only partly his fault, the character is written that way, but he brings neither subtlety nor nuance to the role. The movie might have been better if McKellan had been cast as the husband, and Bonneville as the shrink. Neither of these characters, however, can hold the screen against the incandescent Edgar and Stella, right up to a surprising and inevitable ending. Even if you condemn them for the disaster they create, you know why they create it. Excellent and disturbing. Highly recommended.

In the 50's, the psychiatrist Max Raphael (Hugh Bonneville) is hired to work as superintendent of an asylum in the outskirts of London, and he moves with his wife Stella Raphael (Natasha Richardson) and their son Charlie (Gus Lewis). Stella has a passionless marriage and is ignored by Max; her boredom changes when her son befriends the handsome inmate Edgar Stark (Marton Csokas), an sculptor that in a crisis of jealousy had killed and disfigured his wife, and that is treated by Dr. Peter Cleave (Ian McKellen), an ambitious psychiatrist that aspired Max's position. During the afternoons, Stella has a hot adulterous affair with Edgar until the day he escapes and their affair is discovered. Stella has to take a decision between her family and her wild passion for Edgar.

"Asylum" is a sort of combination of "Madame Bovary" with "La Ragazza di Trieste", telling the wild and tragic passion of an ignored and bored woman and her descent into a hell life with a madman. The narrative is sexually tense, and the still sexy Natasha Richardson has a fantastic performance in the role of a woman that becomes obsessed by her destructive desire. Her chemistry with Marton Csokas is amazing, combining tension, madness and eroticism in a stylish cinematography. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Paixão Sem Limites" ("Passion Without Limits")

There is so much to admire about Asylum that I wish the movie came together better. The smoldering 50s sensuality is dead on, as are the colors used for clothing, building, etc. (although all the vehicles are a little too new). The acting is generally good all around, although a couple of moments may seem a bit forced.

But structurally, the film is a difficult sell. It seems to be a thriller, but isn't. The characters should be sympathetic. None are, and most become less so as the movie goes along. There is a formal symmetry to the proceedings, but I was left wondering if it served the material as well as some other approach might have.

Like his previous movie Young Adam, Mackenzie takes a literal approach to his adaptations - not be the best way, perhaps, to bring these types of difficult materials to the screen.

This is a horror film masquerading as an emotional drama. Why bother? The story is so disturbing, so nasty, so tasteless, so pointless. It is an exercise in 'provocation' and exploitation. Do we really want to see the late and lamented Natasha Richardson brilliantly going to pieces? Do we really want to see Ian McKellen being brilliantly devious, creepy, and demented? Do we really want to see Marton Csokas being brilliantly passionate, creepy, and demented? Do we want to see any of these things? Do we want to see people reduced to emotional and psychological rubble? Children drowning? Suicide? Marriage wrecked? Despair? Hopelessness? Do we want to be provided with a ready-made reason why we should all go jump off a high building and decide that there is no point in living? If the answer is yes, then this film is for you. Anyone who thinks life is tough enough already should give it a miss.

While this movie isn't exactly bad (the acting is good and the gloomy atmosphere is intriguing), i absolutely advise people who loved the book to not watch it. It would be an underwhelming experience.

Very briefly, the story concerns Stella, the wife of a newly arrived deputy superintendent of a prison hospital for the criminally insane and the developing relationship that she forms with one of the trusted inmates. Nothing particularly original about a tale of doomed love - you inevitably suspect that the outcome will be disastrous, but the tale unfolds in a way that is unexpected and gripping. What makes Asylum stand out is the environment in which the tale is set and the quality of the production. I read the book on which the film is based some years ago. I often find that having read a book, a subsequent film can be a disappointment, possibly because the pictures you have formed in your mind vary from those that appear on screen. Asylum differed in this respect and I came away from the viewing haunted by what I had seen and greatly impressed with the absorbing nature of the production. For the benefit of any readers unfamiliar with the work of the author Patrick McGrath, his books often feature characters that are mentally ill. He knows the subject well as he grew up living in the grounds of Broadmoor, the English prison hospital for the criminally insane that features in this story. His father worked on the medical staff there. The film captures the claustrophobic and artificial environment of such a community and I refer to that which is experienced by the staff and their families rather than the patients. The rigid conformity and social constraints to which Stella is subject to are convincingly portrayed. The casting and acting I found pretty much faultless, not only from the big players such as Richardson and McKellen but the lesser known members of the cast excel also. Marton Csokas as Edgar, the subject of Stella's attention is particularly good. I was expecting a worthy but slightly dull 'quality' drama but I found the film unexpectedly absorbing, even though I was familiar with the story. The direction and photography should be praised also – unobtrusive but allowing the story to unfold at a swift pace so as to hold the viewers attention. Highly recommended.

It would be unfair to say that this movie is merely mediocre, but there is nothing engrossing in "Asylum" whatsoever. The movie is about the wife of a psychologist who has a sexual relationship with a lunatic inmate in a psychiatric hospital.

Stella, the wife of the psychologist, for some strange reason, began having a passionate affair with Edgar, the insane inmate who decapitated his own wife. Both of them kept having a so-called lascivious affair during his working outside her house. As well as telling the story about Stella's unfaithfulness, the movie portrays the same, old cliché of an unhappy married couple, which I found a tad arid and unimaginative. Despite attempting a bit of a twist near the end, the movie gives the impression that the story only was included so as to extend the duration of the film.

This movie should have ended after an hour. The director or screenwriter, however, seemed to want to make sure that the viewers grasp the actual main point of the two lovers' situation: why were they easily allowed to engage in mischievous frolics and who was the person who pulled the strings behind the whole story?

The protagonists and supporting roles give a real good performance. Ian McKellen, who played Dr. Peter Cleave, performed to his usual standard. The lead characters, played by Natasha Richardson and Marton Csokas were well suited in their roles and Hugh Bonneville, unsurprisingly, depicted a stuffy, loveless psychologist husband in a good way. The cast of this movie, as a whole, is a good cast.

As mentioned, the movie, itself, had a sterile plot. There was nothing new in this liaison; this unfaithful tale has been told before, and several times. The movie, ipso facto, failed to impress me. Thanks to all the stars who excellently managed to keep this movie a bit interesting. Without them, I could easily have nodded off. Altogether, they ought to do it again in another movie, with a more riveting story to tell.

This film is about the wife of a psychiatrist who falls in love with one of the patients in the psychiatric institution.

At the start, I thought that the scenes seem disjointed. The scenes were so short that it seems truncated and underdeveloped. However, as the film develops, the film no longer feels this way. Instead, this turns into an advantage because the scenes are only as long as they need to be, and hence the film is tight and intense, and things happen all the time. There is hardly room for the viewers to breathe!

This is an intense film with a lot of emotions. We get to see love, hate, jealousy and regret. Both the director and the actors capture the emotions in the most vivid manner that makes me feel for the characters.

The ending is rather unexpected, and the reaction of all the parties concerned in the film are also portrayed.

Natasha Richardson has really been superb, her performance is in my opinion the surprise of the film; not that she wasn't credited as a valid actress, but her role is played perfectly - she's also surrounded by an excellent cast - and is probably the key point to this gloomy and fascinating story. She dominates the screen by acting as a repressed English wife living in the Fifties and throwing her life out for a crazy love affair. Her personality is depicted by many mood changes and of course by a dose of madness and fits the provocative and intentionally shocking atmosphere. Sex scenes are deliberately strong, somewhat primitive, and saying th finale is disturbing is an understatement.

Here's a lively intense film, beautifully acted, gorgeously shot, energetically directed, and yet the whole doesn't quite come together. It's in some senses a period piece that pretty well gets stuck in its period--England in the early 60s, when a lot of smoking and Freudian psychoanalysis were both in their heyday. There are a lot of twists and turns in this drama, each one grimmer and more outrageous than the last, but in the end what you admire are the sensitive and engaging performances of Natasha Richardson and Ian McKellen, both of whom take us into this soap opera of a drama and make us care about their characters. That's more that can be said for the screenplay which would fit comfortably on daytime TV. It's worth watching for the performances, but its not a film you'd recommend to friends.

The line separating the sane with the mad is very thin, and this is what "Asylum" is about: We watch the story of Stella (Richardson), the wife of psychiatrist max Raphael (Bonneville), who falls in passionate love with Edgar (Csokas), one of his patients. Her passion leads her to reckless actions in the beginning, and gradually starts to gravely impair her own clarity of mind with catastrophic consequences.

The subject of the film is quite intriguing, and the overall impression that the movie produces to the viewer is satisfactory. And yet, the film fails to get a "very good" or "excellent" grade: This has nothing to do with Mckenzies direction or the actors' performances, which are both good; the problem lies with the fact that from some point onwards the story starts to become quite implausible, thus putting the viewer off.

Of course, implausibility should generally not be a problem in itself when we are talking about a movie containing a fictional story. However, since "Asylum" aims to be a study of characters and minds, keeping the story plausible is an essential factor in having the viewer engaged. As soon as actions and events start to become outlandish, the viewer starts to disconnect. This is why the film gets a 6/10 when it had the potential for 1-2 more points.

Damaged-lonely souls crossing paths.. with neither capable of solving their individual problems, and so they must ultimately meet the same fate and ultimately crash and burn. She really did capture the screen with her incredible presence, with a timelessness that shall forever persist. Certain actors just exude that calm persona and inner and outer beauty so critical to numerous delicate roles. She was a very special individual and talent, and even if the whole world did not have the extended opportunity to share that revelation.. just watching certain of her works.. and those glimpses of wonder shine through. Forty-five when she passed away, we shall all be rediscovering her marvelous and indelible achievements for years to come.

Two people are caught in a British insane asylum, a woman who's married to one of its doctors, and a patient who brutally murdered his wife. The two, once finding each other, are instantly attracted to each other and begin to obsess over each other, before it culminates in his escape and her following. But their attempted escape from the asylum is largely insuccessful as the strict order of the loveless world around them always tries to tie them down and their degressive control over their own emotions severs the bonds between them.

So basically we have a story about love that turns into obsession that turns, literally, into insanity, a theme I am quite intrigued with and that was explored certainly to surprising degrees here. The movie wastes no time in foreshadowing all the events that will happen, along with making quite clear in the first few moments of screen time that yes, in fact, Stella is a de facto inmate of the asylum. So while it wouldn't necessarily be subtle--in fact seeming to race ahead at moments when one expects the exposition to be more gradual--it still contains a vested interest in showing just how hard it can be sometimes to separate desire from insanity.

And maybe, to a degree, it's so blatantly three-act, and follows a sense of rigid literature that it is somewhat clichéd in its structure, but for that it can still be enjoyed as a theatre, to sit back and focus more on the acting and just how the story progresses, not where it's going to progress which should be quite obvious to any viewer from the beginning.

--PolarisDiB

There was so much promise in this story, but it just wasn't there. Maybe, if they had beefed up Sir Ian's role or had a husband that drew more sympathy, it could have been a great film.

As it was, it was just passable, and not worthy of a watch recommendation, even with Sir Ian in the cast. He just seemed to phone in his role. That was a shame because he could have been written as more mischievous and allowed to stretch to the capability we know he has.

Except for the utterly forgettable Maid in Manhattan, this is the first time I have seen Natasha Richardson. She did a good job in the role of a neglected housewife and pawn of Sir Ian.

This was also the first film of director David Mackenzie's that I have seen. he appears to have some promise, but he just didn't show it here.

Patrick McGrath's novel has been faithfully translated to the screen by Patrick Marber, and directed with great care by David Mackenzie. The film's basic idea is to what extent a woman can go when falling passionately in love with a mad man. Mr. Mackenzie seems to be in complete control, as he takes us for this somewhat erotic ride to show us what makes Stella lose her mind. If you haven't seen the film, maybe you should stop reading here.

The action takes place in the England of the fifties. The look of the film fits perfectly with the story thanks to that faded photography Jules Nuttgens created for the movie. The Raphael family arrives at an insane asylum where he has been hired for an important position. As such, Max must attend to everything because he looks as though he will inherit the director's job. Stella, his wife, is another story. She is bored with the surroundings and with her marriage. There is nothing between Max and Stella in a way of passion.

When Edgar, one of the inmates that is somewhat freer around the institution, is assigned to help restore the green house that belongs to the house the Raphaels occupy, he immediately develops an attraction toward Stella. This young woman is awakened into a sexual frenzy because the way that Edgar makes her feel, something that appears is lacking in her own marriage.

The problem is compounded when Peter Cleave, the ambitious doctor who appears to have been bypassed in favor of Max, realizes what's going on between the two lovers, but it's too late for Stella to react, or change ways, she has already been smitten by something that is more powerful than her own resolve to stay away from the mad Edgar. In a way, there's a hint of homosexuality, in that Cleave might also have feelings for the insane man, but being in control, he can rein his own impulses.

Mr. Mackenzie gets excellent acting from all the principals in the film, especially Natasha Richarson, who as Stella, is perfect for this role. Ian McEwen, the distinguished English actor, makes a great Petere Cleave. The surprise of "Asylum" proves to be Marton Csokas, who plays Edgar. Hugh Bonneville, as the cuckolded husband Max, is also quite effective. Judy Parfitt, Joss Ackland and Gus Lewis are seen in supporting roles.

Mr. Mackenzie has directed with great style as he seems to understand these characters well.