An Audience of Chairs

While the topic of mental illness has been portrayed countless times in cinema I think this is one of the better films that I have seen about the illness. Some may take hope as the silver lining in the movie but I see it a little bit different. With a little bit of help and a lot of empathy it seems that we could be helping people in real and meaningful ways. I thoroughly enjoyed the film and got a bit teary-eyed in the last acts.

Based on the novel of the same name by Joan Clark, this movie tells the story of Maura Mackenzie has it all - beauty, talent and a career as a concert pianist. But with a husband who is never there and the demands of being a mother, all of the stress of life gets to her. Her husband takes their daughters and she has a full-on nervous breakdown on the eve of her American tour. Can she get her life together or is this it? Obviously, this isn't the type of movie we cover here all that often, but that doesn't mean that it isn't any good. This tale of dealing with depression and discovering a second chance at motherhood is poignant. It's not a life that I will ever live, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth exploring. That said - I don't often watch movies where women try to decide if they want to be a mother or allow the ghost of their own mother to talk them into drowning themselves before falling in love with a trucker in Newfoundland.