{"id":209,"date":"2007-11-01T14:27:28","date_gmt":"2007-11-01T13:27:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2007\/11\/01\/209\/"},"modified":"2007-11-01T14:29:18","modified_gmt":"2007-11-01T13:29:18","slug":"209","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2007\/11\/01\/209\/","title":{"rendered":"THE MIND BENDERS"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

\nFormat:<\/B>DVD

\nRelease date:<\/B> 1 October 2007

\nDistributor<\/B> Optimum

\nDirector:<\/B> Basil Dearden

\nCast:<\/B> Dirk Bogarde, Mary Ure, John Clements

\nUK\/ 1962

\n109 mins\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\nThe Cuban Missile Crisis was perhaps the height of the cold war. So it is hardly surprising that both The Manchurian Candidate<\/I> and the lesser-known British film The Mind Benders<\/I> were made that same year. Both films are concerned with brain-washing; the former based on the experiences of GIs in the Korean War and the latter on experiments in ‘the reduction of sensation carried out at certain universities in the United States’, according to the opening title. The technique is explained with the aid of a wonderful pastiche of a university science film (looking remarkably like something Steve Zissou might have made) which shows how a few hours in a sensory deprivation tank can affect a man – how it can ‘reduce him until he becomes a sort of soulless, mindless, will-less thing. Not even a man at all’.<\/p>\n

Although the film begins like a cold-war thriller (‘with the drafty telephone boxes and park seats – the whole chilly paraphernalia of treason’, as John Clements’ Major Hall observes) it develops into something very different. Perhaps this is not surprising, considering director Basil Dearden’s pedigree. He is most famous for ‘issue films’: tackling race in Sapphire<\/I>, juvenile delinquency in The Blue Lamp<\/I> (in which Dirk Bogarde was cast against type as a teenage ruffian) and homosexuality in the ground-breaking Victim<\/I> (again with Bogarde). Whereas in The Manchurian Candidate<\/I> brain-washing can lead to presidential assassination attempts, in The Mind Benders<\/I> it causes marriage difficulties. Mary Ure sees her marriage descend into another Look Back in Anger<\/I> as her husband succumbs to the power of suggestion (he is told that he hates his wife while in his weakened state). However, it is this approach that makes The Mind Benders<\/I> such a curiosity and perhaps also it is where the film ultimately fails. The cross between sci-fi and family drama is interesting but neither area is sufficiently developed for it to work. This may be because Ure and Bogarde’s marriage difficulties occur largely off-screen during a family holiday: the story of sexual humiliation in Amsterdam is told but not seen (although the film was surprisingly awarded an X-certificate on its original release). <\/p>\n

Despite starring everyone’s favourite pin-up doctor, Dirk Bogarde, the film was a box office and critical failure at the time – with one headline reading, ‘Bogarde thriller is shabby and nasty’. Although this seems an exaggeration the film can be seen as a continuation of Bogarde’s move away from his Rank screen idol persona (although he was still to reprise his role as the charming Doctor Simon Sparrow throughout the 60s), a journey that was to lead to the genuinely nasty The Damned<\/I> (1969) and The Night Porter<\/I> (1974). <\/p>\n

All in all, The Mind Benders<\/I> is a fascinating failure. It is intelligent science fiction made for an adult audience (although hardly deserving its X-certificate). Dearden directs with his usual moody seriousness (and with the staid professionalism that always separated him from the younger generation of directors that included Karel Reisz and Tony Richardson). Even the mind-bending hallucinations in the tank (a few double-exposure shots) are handled with a degree of subtlety. The cast are excellent, particularly Bogarde, who in true Dr Jeckyll style, plays both scientist and guinea pig, and Ure as his suffering wife. Georges Auric’s score is also noteworthy but one can’t help thinking the subject matter might have been better suited to Roger Corman. <\/p>\n

Paul Huckerby <\/B><\/I><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Cuban Missile Crisis was perhaps the height of the cold war. So it is hardly surprising that both The Manchurian Candidate<\/I> and the lesser-known British film The Mind Benders<\/I> were made that same year. Both films are concerned with brain-washing…
\nReview by Paul Huckerby <\/B><\/I><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dvds-and-blu-rays"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","wps_subtitle":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/surUP-209","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5384,"url":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2015\/03\/10\/the-manchurian-candidate\/","url_meta":{"origin":209,"position":0},"title":"The Manchurian Candidate","author":"Pam Jahn","date":"March 10, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"While its trappings belong to the Cold War paranoia of the 50s and 60s, John Frankenheimer\u2019s thriller has an intensity that keeps it relevant. Review by Jim Harper","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Manchurian Candidate 1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/The-Manchurian-Candidate-1-594x334.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/The-Manchurian-Candidate-1-594x334.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/The-Manchurian-Candidate-1-594x334.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":379,"url":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2008\/07\/01\/memories-of-underdevelopment\/","url_meta":{"origin":209,"position":1},"title":"MEMORIES OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"July 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Like the classic fl\u00ed\u00ad\u00c2\u00a2neur Sergio wanders aimlessly about the streets of Havana, meditating on the true meaning behind the agitprop facade which continuously plays out on his TV. Review by James DC","rel":"","context":"In "Cinema releases"","block_context":{"text":"Cinema releases","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/cinema-releases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":999,"url":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2010\/04\/01\/double-take\/","url_meta":{"origin":209,"position":2},"title":"Double Take","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"April 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Here it is Alfred Hitchcock who meets the 1980s version of himself during the filming of The Birds in 1962, which leads him to plan the perfect murder. \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcIf you meet your double, you should kill him, or he will kill you,' one tells the other. Review by Paul Huckerby","rel":"","context":"In "Cinema releases"","block_context":{"text":"Cinema releases","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/cinema-releases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/double-take-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4833,"url":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2014\/09\/04\/1\/","url_meta":{"origin":209,"position":3},"title":"1","author":"Pam Jahn","date":"September 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the lesser known film adaptations of Stanislaw Lem's work is Hungarian director Pater Sparrow's 1 (2009). Comic Strip Review by Babak Ganjei","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ONE FILM REVIEW","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/ONE-FILM-REVIEW-594x826.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/ONE-FILM-REVIEW-594x826.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/ONE-FILM-REVIEW-594x826.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":677,"url":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2009\/07\/03\/moon\/","url_meta":{"origin":209,"position":4},"title":"MOON","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"July 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The winner of the Michael Powell award for best new British feature film at this year's Edinburgh Film Festival, Duncan Jones's independent debut feature is a fascinating and visually stunning sci-fi film that explores the alienation and bitter loneliness of space, as well as the very essence of the human\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cinema releases"","block_context":{"text":"Cinema releases","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/cinema-releases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Moon","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/review_moon-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4109,"url":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2014\/03\/08\/the-machine\/","url_meta":{"origin":209,"position":5},"title":"The Machine","author":"Pam Jahn","date":"March 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A stylish contender among sci-fi films that explore the inscrutable question of whether artificial consciousness can exist. Review by Nicola Woodham","rel":"","context":"In "Check it out"","block_context":{"text":"Check it out","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/check-it-out\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Machine","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/The-Machine-594x517.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/The-Machine-594x517.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/The-Machine-594x517.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}