BENGALURU: In the 1994 Shawshank Redemption, the lead and prisoner Andy, risks severe punishment by hijacking the prison’s speaker system to play an uplifting song from an Italian opera. It is a moment of hope for the other convicts, and one even says, “It was like a beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away... every last man at Shawshank felt free”.
Films have a capacity to free us from our routine, like the song, and that is what a new kind of therapy in the city hopes to tap. Rohit Sasvehalli, founder and life coach at Mithrandir, uses clips from movies to facilitate dialogue and help people think deeper about their lives.
He, like many other counsellors who are trying this out, plays clips from different kinds of movies based on the theme of his workshop.
“I pause the clip and ask questions such as what feelings it inspired or what relevance it holds in their lives. They share their experiences with the group and this triggers a transformation in their lives,” he says. About the clip in The Shawshank Redemption, he says, “It shows how many prisoners are ‘freed’ despite being locked up in a jail. And many people in the workshop that day felt as liberated, in spite of being stuck in life or career”.
Rohit has been working as a facilitator for about nine years, and says that the age group that shows up for these sessions fall in the 21 to 35 age group; there are the few 40 and 50 year olds too. He says, “The problems of people are different but they all look for love and motivation”. Tazeen Syeda, a participant, says the workshop helped her broaden her perspective on life. “When you watch a movie clip, you see it is a particular way. But, your partner in the group may hold a completely different view,” says the 36-year-old corporate trainer.
Rohit says, sometimes, the discussions lead to conflicts and disagreements. “That can lead to deeper conversations.” Tazeen adds that she always believed, like many people, that her views about life are right but when she watched a clip from the film Into the Wild, that changed. It was the one in which the protagonist is offered lodging at a guide’s house. “The guide tells him that you don’t have to always stay within the confines of a house, inspiring the hero to climb a mountain and spend time there,” she says.
Rohit is hosting Life Reflections through Cinema — film therapy workshop on Saturday, October 14 at Shoonya — Centre for Art and Somatic Practices.
What do psychiatrists say?
Dr Naveen Jayaram, a consultant, department of psychiatry, Sakra World Hospital says the medium should be constantly used for yielding therapeutic results. “Visual is a powerful medium. Using it is similar to motivational therapy. When you motivate a person, he’ll feel inspired for a while but that high may not last. Hence, for behavioural change, a medium should be persistently used.” He adds that a movie can help in addressing one issue. “Say, if the movie is about no smoking, it can influence and help person quit smoking if he watches it again and again. Also, same movie cannot be watched many times.” He suggests movies for relaxation because of its entertainment value.
Watching consciously
It is said that Dr Gary Solomon, an American psychiatrist, was the first to write about using cinema for therapeutic purposes. The Dictionary of Modern Medicine by J C Segen describes cinema therapy as a form of therapy or self-help that uses movies, particularly videos, as therapeutic tools. Cinema therapy can be a catalyst for healing and growth for those who are open to learning how movies affect people and to watching certain films with conscious awareness.