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Tarfumes.com - Mesmer (Unrated Director's Cut)
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List Price: $9.99
Our Price: $26.68
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
Starring: Alan Rickman, Amanda Ooms, Peter Dvorsky, Donal Donnelly, Anna Thalbach
Directed By: Roger Spottiswoode
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9786305835554
Format: Color
ISBN: 6305835551
Label: Image Entertainment
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Image Entertainment
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2000-05-23
Running Time: 109
Studio: Image Entertainment
Theatrical Release Date: 1994
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Editorial Reviews:
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Charlatan, fraud...or genius? To some he was a wizard, a miracle man; to others he was a charlatan and a fraud. His theories of hypnotism were revolutionary, but he was reviled by his contemporaries and exiled from his native Vienna. He became the toast of Paris, a visionary, a Svengali--and the disgrace of the medical profession. He was Franz Anton Mesmer and this was eighteenth century Vienna. Written by Dennis Potter (Pennies from Heaven).
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: "Prepare" to be MESMERized!
Comment: I have read other review on this board regarding this movie, and I saw a common theme of person's saying that the film was a bit hard to follow, even thought they liked it as a whole. I did not find the story difficult, but I did do some research prior to watching it. I did some reference work through my university, but also on something as accessible as wikipedia. If you look there, it gives you a lucid, coherent outline of Mesmer and his research, aw well as his methods of practice. If you gain a little background , then this movie flows beautifully!
I found this movie to be amazingly filmed, and the acting, especially by Rickman was superb. I cannot think of another actor who can draw your attention and hold it without even having to speak, and then when he does, there is no other voice like it - silky, melodic, and can touch your very soul. Rickman himself is 'mesmerizing.'
The sets and scenes shot for this film are breathtaking, and I believe that this film will captivate anyone who is fascinated in the rise of reason that was taking place in Europe during the 1600s-1700s. What you begin to realize is that Mesmer had truly discovered the power of magnetism, and its potential healing properties on the body. Sadly, this radicalism of thought was in its infancy, and therefore ultimately led to his undoing in a time of bloodletting. This film helps the viewer to see that despite the Enlightenment, there was still a profoundly medieval consensus of thought running through the scientific and medical worlds. The men who spoke of superstition and foolhardy practices being rooted out of their practice could not let go of antiquated harmful treatments themselves. They called Mesmer a charlatan and a fraud because his form of treatment was so unconventional and "perverse" to them, and yet when you see the forms of treatment that the conventional physicans were using at the time, you see the absurdity of their accusations.
I highly reccommend this film. It is beautiful, it is wonderfully acted, and touching. It is also a profoundly enjoyable film that can be watched again and again. I do reccommend though, that you do a bit of research to acquaint yourself with Mesmer. This will help put the film into perspective. It will also make you realize and appreciate what an amazing job Alan Rickman did in portraying this man!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Yes, this film may be viewed as weird, BUT the information is accurate and fascinating!!!
Comment: Have you ever gone for an MRI? Have you ever felt the needles of an acupuncturist? What about seances,crystal therapy,faith healings, chiropractic and primal scream therapy? There are numerous avenues to healing out there and some, along with their adherers may be considered a little wacky by some! Well.. If you have ever wondered where the phrase "you've got animal magnetism" gets it's origin you will learn it here in this very different film MESMER starring the enigmatic and creepy Alan Rickman.
In 1774,Franz Anton Mesmer produced what he called "the artificial tide".The patient swallowed a liquid containing iron and then had magnets to their body. Mesmer believed that the "animal magnetism" that accululated in his body controlled the liquid flow in the patient thus curing all ills. Thus we get the term "mesmerized."Patients would seem in trance states for hours. Multitudes watched as these "cures" were performed.They were "high drama" and frankly curious entertainment for the wealthy of the time!
This film, though, particularly follows the scandal that resulted from Mesmer's unsuccessful attempt at curing the blindness of Maria Paradis, and teenage musician in Vienna.This debacle resulted in Mesmer's fleeing to Paris where he continued his work with one physician of high standing, Charles d'Eslon.
This film is odd to say the least, and frankly some are going to think "What was Alan Rickman (Mesmer) thinking???" Well, frankly no one could have played the bizarre Mesmer any more compellingly than Mr. Rickman. Mesmer's ideas in the studies of the body and health are not at all unlike many of the more esoteric means of curing ills that exist today! Rickman plays Mesmer with complete abandon and mysteriousness that WAS Anton Mesmer. One scene that depicts Mesmer's group cure called "the baquet" still stays in my mind to this day! Twenty people sat connected to each other and to metal rods that were attached to a large round vessel. As Mesmer would pass by each person, his animal magnetism would pass to the participants producing all kinds of fits and convulsing! FASCINATING and FASCINATINGLY FILMED!!!!Yes, his techniques were of such high drama and SO unorthodox that one might be tempted to write this film off as folly. IT IS NOT! Anyone revolutionary thinker/charlatan/crack-pot/genius has his or hers believers and detractors. This film shows what extents the wealthy of the time were willing to go in order to seek cure...and it does it well!
Great companion films that also show unorthodox methods of healers/physicians/mystics are AIMEE SEMPLE McPHERSON, THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE, BEAUTIFUL DREAMERS,THE APOSTLE,HOUDINI,THE CHANGELING and THE OTHERS.
For Alan Rickman fans, another film where he plays a "crazy" is RASPUTIN. EXCELLENT!
Customer Rating:
Summary: I'm gonna get crucified for this
Comment: I've extolled how amazing Alan Rickman is in just about everything he's ever been in. He can take a bad script and turn it into gold just with his delivery. But in this movie, he went WAY over the top, and not in a good Sheriff of Nottingham way. There were times when I felt he wasn't chewing scenery, he was swallowing it whole!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great film! Bad Sound Mix!
Comment: While truly a great film the DVD version has little to offer beyond the VHS. Alan Rickman is, as always, at his uncomparable best and perfectly cast with Amanda Ooms. Hopefully, there will be a remastered version with an updated state of the art sound mix and more to offer as far as cast interviews(?) and/or deleted scenes. A film such as this deserves better technical updates as it is really important in the annals of film history and cast repertoire.
Customer Rating:
Summary: What was that?
Comment: Even Alan Rickman couldn't save this conglomeration of images which attempted to depict the life and times of Franz Anton Mesmer. Truly an interesting story, Mesmer's life is not well portrayed by this movie. Unless you are already well acquainted with Mesmer and his theories, watching this movie will not explain any of the man's intriguing ideas. In fact, I found myself more confused by the end of the movie than before I'd begun watching it!
The sound was not good at all for a portion of the movie and it was very hard to hear some of the dialogue adding to the overall confusion. There were some exquisite uses of light and shadow- very artistic. But alas, the movie ends very suddenly without explanation of any sort and left me sitting there with open mouth and a blank expression. Maybe I had been mesmerized. I often am mesmerized by Alan Rickman!
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