Mood:  sad

For those who don't know, the film "An Angel at My Table" is the autobiographical account of famous New Zealand author, Janet Frame, whose books Owls Do Cry and The Carpathians emerged as some of the most important literature (and, whaddyaknow, magical realism!) coming from that part of the world.

Probably even more importantly, it's the story of a girl who comes from poor and tragic circumstances, who decides to become an author at about the same time she develops into a dreadfully introverted and sensitive young woman. Her shyness is perceived as a form of mental illness, she's committed at a sanitarium and barely escapes lobotomization after her collection of short stories wins a major national prize.

No, there aren't angels, in the traditional visual sense of the word, in this film, but it's really a must-see for writers and folks who want to study mental illness from the point of view of a woman who was wrongfully treated for a disease she didn't have (schizophrenia). The social repercussions of her story have had an everlasting effect on mental health care ever since (and thank goodness, though there's still a ways to go). Janet Frame has, in the end, become a hero for thousands, thanks to this film.

Another book combining the notion of angels and the torture culture of mental health "care" is Sara Paretsky's Ghost Country, which I recommend for its sly use of angel-like figures, its political statement about American society's abandonment of the homeless, and its contemporary staging of a Virgin Mary sighting.