Sometimes, smaller movies are the best avenues to discuss mental health on film. There are numerous ways to interpret an illness, and by taking a smaller, more daring approach to the material, filmmakers can say more about what it means to deal with a mental illness than if they tried to appease the masses. Keane takes that approach, and it makes for an interesting movie, if not a clear story. By putting the scenes of the movie out of order, he makes a statement about what perception means and how movies can express it.
Keane is the story of William Keane, played by Damien Lewis. He’s haunted by the disappearance of his daughter at Penn Station in New York City, and he wanders the station asking about her. At times, he yells at passing cars, seemingly out of control. Other times, he’s a high functioning alcoholic who is able to pick up a woman at a bar and help take care of a little girl staying in the hotel he lives in. The story relies on his reaction to her presence and how it reminds him of his daughter. The movie becomes much more interesting when you realize that the scenes are out of order, meaning that the manner in which causes and effects are depicted don’t mean what you think they mean.
I thought this movie was about a man struggling with schizophrenia as he deals with the guilt of his daughter’s disappearance and his part in it (she was with him at the time), but as the movie went on, I realized that I wasn’t sure. It might have been psychosis brought on by bereavement. It might have been the drug and alcohol addiction he suffers from that caused his inability to function. It might be all of these at the same time. His habit of repeating his name and facts about himself seem like a coping mechanism that a psychologist or counselor would teach someone who is dealing with a more chronic illness than grief. The movie is purposefully unclear about it, leading the viewer to have to decide what order they like best. Lodge Kerrigan, the writer and director of the movie, said in interviews that Keane is part of the marginalized class of people with mental illnesses, but didn’t elaborate on what kind.
I couldn’t decide what made the most sense for him. I thought the introduction of the young girl, played by Abagail Breslin, and her mom, played by Amy Ryan, triggered his guilt and subsequent breakdown, which started by him drinking too much and taking drugs and leading to his yelling at cars before ending with him lying on the side of the road. Steven Soderbergh, the director of Ocean’s Eleven, put together a completely different cut of the movie with the scenes in the order he believed they went in, and it runs basically in reverse. The ability of the movie to contain all of these different readings is an impressive accomplishment, and an interesting study of how no story is as simple as we believe it to be.
The movie’s power comes from the amazing performance of Damien Lewis. The movie follows him so closely that much of the movie is his profile, and he’s not perfect. Even when he’s out of control, he’s not creating a caricature, but a person trying to deal with the life he has. Much of what he does is ugly, and he plays all of it without vanity. The rest of the cast support him wonderfully, but it’s all about him. It’s not surprising that Lewis would excel in a movie like this; the instability of personality is a big part of his role on Homeland as well.
I thought the movie would discuss memory, or psychosis, but the issues it brings up are more complicated than that. What is happening with the title character isn’t ever spelled out for the viewer, which I think is more powerful. I hope you check it out and let me know what you think is going on. Perhaps your interpretation will put the pieces together.
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