From www.tasteofcinema.com:
"Cinema of all ages has always been interested in mad characters and the portrayal of insanity. We fear madness, but at the same time its cinematic manifestation often brings to life some of the most charismatic and memorable movie characters, like the Joker from the Batman series, Jack Torrance from "The Shining", Norman Bates from "Psycho", and many others.
But the spectator has to notice that this entertaining madness is usually just the fictionalization of a true mental condition, a generic "craziness" that in most cases can't be even identified in medical terms. However, there are movies that, we should say, would make any psychiatrist proud.
We're talking about those movies that manage to show on the screen a realistic portrayal of people suffering from true, recognizable mental disorders. Sometimes this realism is based on the director's will, other times it turns out to be involuntary."
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