FOUDRE Une légende en quatre saisons

Winter – PATHOS MATHOS

6 janvier 2013 /

PATHOS MATHOS

 Passion guides my destiny

A film at the source of dark thoughts

 

This film takes a close look at the unhappy passion called melancholy, or the pathways by which dark thoughts spread inside us. A subjective film because it focuses on the intimacy of the subject, Pathosmathos follows singular human and geographical journeys.

Firstly, that of psychiatrist William de Carvalho whose origins combined with his practice take us to black Africa. Of mixed race, he allows us to establish the link between the practice of Western psychiatry and Kasara, a therapeutic ritual in Guinea-Bissau, from whence one of his ancestors probably hailed.

Because this film was born of a nightmare followed by a dream, it is entirely guided by the inner movements of the psyche and their resemblance in form. A film about both the human spirit and, depending on what culture you’re from, other spirits that might inhabit, visit, or deliver it, Pathosmathos choses a Greek name, borrowed from Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, whose expression “To pathos, mathos” punctuates the litany. Agamemnon is saying “the passion I suffer makes me learn.”

Pathos Mathos depicts the other in his or her genealogical and psychological makeup, and represents each character symbolically in a form that is as close as possible to his own perception.

The film also traces the history of one treatment for melancholy— electroconvulsive therapy—in order to reexamine the taboos that mar the practice. From Ancient times, when Arab medicine first had the idea of getting rid of serious headaches by applying a torpedo fish to the patient’s head, at the first psychiatric hospital, the Bimaristan, in Aleppo, Syria, all the way to current-day electroshocks at the Maison de Santé de Meudon Bellevue. Electroconvulsive therapy is currently used when no chemical treatment succeeds in halting the symptoms. It is used for a deep and intractable depression; that is the diagnosis of melancholy. Many still associate it with torture, in large part because of movies. The film tries to paint an objective picture by placing itself in the patient’s point of view.

Truly melancholy patients are shown and listened to. They are seen from their inner and outer worlds at the same time. Pathos Mathos takes place in winter because its subject is that inner chill that freezes the heart and blood.

It is expressed as a legend and tells true stories bolstered by the imagination.

 

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Hiver – PATHOS MATHOS

6 janvier 2013 /

PATHOS MATHOS

 Passion guide mon destin

Un film aux sources de l’idée noire

 

Découvrez les mots de l’auteur et réalisatrice du film, Manuela Morgaine.

Ce film regarde de près la passion malheureuse appelée mélancolie, ou manière dont se propage en nous l’idée noire. Subjectif parce que centré sur l’intime du sujet, Pathosmathos suit des parcours humains et géographiques singuliers.

En premier lieu celui d’un psychiatre, William de Carvalho, dont les origines, mises en relation avec sa pratique, nous font aller en Afrique noire. Métis, il nous permet de faire le lien entre la pratique de la psychiatrie occidentale et le Kasara, un rituel thérapeutique de Guinée-Bissau où se situe probablement une de ses origines.

Parce qu’un cauchemar, puis un rêve ont fait naître ce film, il est entièrement guidé par les mouvements intérieurs de la psyché et leur ressemble dans sa forme. S’intéressant à la fois à l’esprit humain et aux esprits qui peuvent l’habiter, le visiter ou le délivrer selon la culture où l’on se trouve, Pathosmathos choisit un titre grec, emprunté à l’Agamemnon d’Eschyle dont l’expression To pathos, mathos vient scander la litanie. Agamemnon dit alors « la passion que je subis me fait apprendre ».

Pathos Mathos représente l’autre dans sa dimension généalogique et psychique, en donne une vision symbolique pour arriver à le représenter au plus proche de ses perceptions.

Le film remonte aussi aux origines d’un des traitements de la mélancolie, l’électroconvulsivothérapie, afin de revenir sur le tabou qui pèse sur cette pratique. Depuis la médecine arabe de l’Antiquité qui a pensé la première à venir à bout des fortes céphalées par un choc électrique en appliquant un poisson torpille sur la tête d’un souffrant, au tout premier Hôpital psychiatrique, le Bimaristan d’Alep en Syrie jusqu’aux électrochocs pratiqués aujourd’hui à la Maison de Santé de Meudon Bellevue.L’électroconvulsivothérapie est utilisée aujourd’hui  lorsqu’ aucun traitement chimique ne parvient à enrayer les symptômes. Elle est utilisée lors d’une dépression profonde poussée à son extrémité, c’est cela le diagnostic de la mélancolie. Elle est encore pour nous,en grande partie à cause du cinéma, associée à une torture. Le film tente d’en donner une vision objective en se situant toujours du point de vue du patient.

A de vrais mélancoliques est donnée la parole et un visage. Ils sont vus dans leur monde intérieur et extérieur à la fois.  Pathos Mathos se passe en hiver parce qu’il s’agit bien de ce froid intérieur qui glace le cœur et les veines.

Il s’exprime comme une légende, raconte des histoires vraies soutenues par l’imagination.

Manuela Morgaine.

PATHOS MATHOS

 Passion guides my destiny

A film at the source of dark thoughts

 

This film takes a close look at the unhappy passion called melancholy, or the pathways by which dark thoughts spread inside us. A subjective film because it focuses on the intimacy of the subject, Pathosmathos follows singular human and geographical journeys.

Firstly, that of psychiatrist William de Carvalho whose origins combined with his practice take us to black Africa. Of mixed race, he allows us to establish the link between the practice of Western psychiatry and Kasara, a therapeutic ritual in Guinea-Bissau, from whence one of his ancestors probably hailed.

Because this film was born of a nightmare followed by a dream, it is entirely guided by the inner movements of the psyche and their resemblance in form. A film about both the human spirit and, depending on what culture you’re from, other spirits that might inhabit, visit, or deliver it, Pathosmathos choses a Greek name, borrowed from Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, whose expression “To pathos, mathos” punctuates the litany. Agamemnon is saying “the passion I suffer makes me learn.”

Pathos Mathos depicts the other in his or her genealogical and psychological makeup, and represents each character symbolically in a form that is as close as possible to his own perception.

The film also traces the history of one treatment for melancholy— electroconvulsive therapy—in order to reexamine the taboos that mar the practice. From Ancient times, when Arab medicine first had the idea of getting rid of serious headaches by applying a torpedo fish to the patient’s head, at the first psychiatric hospital, the Bimaristan, in Aleppo, Syria, all the way to current-day electroshocks at the Maison de Santé de Meudon Bellevue. Electroconvulsive therapy is currently used when no chemical treatment succeeds in halting the symptoms. It is used for a deep and intractable depression; that is the diagnosis of melancholy. Many still associate it with torture, in large part because of movies. The film tries to paint an objective picture by placing itself in the patient’s point of view.

Truly melancholy patients are shown and listened to. They are seen from their inner and outer worlds at the same time. Pathos Mathos takes place in winter because its subject is that inner chill that freezes the heart and blood.

It is expressed as a legend and tells true stories bolstered by the imagination.

 

Comments are closed.

Nicolas Dehorter / translations David H. Pickering