I'm also a little fuzzy on what was intended by Jordan's treatment of the scene in the mental hospital, but it was supposed to represent electro-schock therapy, I think. Maybe it was stylized to symbolize Francie's mental breakdown at this point? (He has, after all, just spent a good deal of time hallucinating that his father is alive, when Da Brady is in fact rotting in the living room easy chair.)
The alien head is a little easier to pinpoint, and I agree with your assessment that it's about Francie's distrust of authority, at least in part. To me, however, it also represents Francie's obsession with popular culture. Throughout the film (and also in Patrick McCabe's brilliant novel), Francie imagines himself as a hero, imagining his world in the context of such powerful figures as John Wayne, Adam Eterno the Time Lord, and The Lone Ranger. That the doctor and the priest are aliens is an extension of this; if Francie is the hero, they are the enemy. Remember the movie Francie goes to see in Dublin? (The Brain from Planet Arous, if anyone is interested.) It's about alien invaders, and these characters "invade" and disrupt Francie's fantasy world. The doctor is connected to the group of people who make Francie face the fact that his father is dead, and the priest interrupts Francie's fantasy about a friendly reunion with Joe.
Make sense? Feel free to give me feedback on this.
reply
share