Cheapfrill,
I think your ethical view on this is exemplary and the film, after all, has somewhat the same message. But there are two aspects that give a twist to our view from today back to the sixties.
One is that the Warren Beatty character is traumatized not only by the backstory with his mother (that I didn't really get), but also by his war experience. Since the war-memories were a problem for a whole generation (and not just an individual trauma), I think the film shows first of all how troubled those young men who came back were (another film that depicts this very well is "Till the end of time" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039036/). Therefore I think it would be more of a sociological or political point, than a mainly moral one.
The second, however, may be more important. Mental hospitals back then were much different than what we know today. Obviously it was never allowed or intelligent to have affairs with patients, but people used to be locked away for things that would be treated differently today. Georges Franjus first film "La tête contre les murs" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052328/), made just years earlier, has been hailed for it's authenticity. I can't judge on that, but psychiatry used to have rather damaging effects on some patients, I guess. So when the film started I expected her to get well with his help and through their love. I was fascinated when the film didn't take that road, but after all, I think the film has a very positive message after all: The mental hospital is depicted surprisingly positive and the film shows that (apart from the love story) it is important to treat the patients with respect. Some of the statements in the film are modern even for todays standards.
I saw that you wrote your comment two years ago, but I'd be interested in your reply.
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Charlot47
10 years ago
Not a bad place to be shut away in, if your family could afford it. Odd, though, that the doctors did not seem to have deduced why Vincent got on so well with Lilith.
Letting an unqualified and virile young male orderly spend so much time alone with a very attractive young female patient, known to be lethally manipulative, was surely a huge risk? Even two of the other patients, poor Stephen and the lesbian Yvonne, had well-founded suspicions. And what if Lilith was pregnant?
But the story is not meant to be interpreted at such a mundane level, of course, being more mythical.
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jrhpax
8 years ago
Vincent's decision -- to give in to his desire for Lilith and tell her he loved her -- led to Lilith becoming a catatonic, resulted in Stephen killing himself, and led Vincent to a mental health crisis of his own.
Vincent allowed himself to be manipulated. He was naive. He let down his guard. He foolishly thought Lilith would get better. He trusted her. He allowed himself to love her and totally crossed the line. His decisions at the end were terrible. He was a kind, decent person who made terrible choices. He should have run away.
When he offered to resign his job earlier in the movie, the staff should have let him go. In 2016 -- I would hope -- a similar staff would have seen the red flags.
Can I say that "Lilith" is one of my favorite movies? I love it. I think it was ahead of its time, and it almost never pays to be ahead of one's time. The cinematography is gorgeous, and the dialogue is one memorable line after another.
Above all, Jean Seberg and Warren Beatty are unforgettable. "Lilith" should have established Jean Seberg as a huge star. Too bad that it didn't.
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