PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Robert Mullan, director of the film Mad to Be Normal.
Robert Mullan presented his latest film, Mad to Be Normal, at the 29th Galway Film Fleadh. The film talks about R.D. Laing, a Scottish psychiatrist who wrote extensively on mental illness, and is particularly remembered for his radical LSD experiments in the 1960’s. Mullan talks about why he decided to make a movie about Laing, and the fact that he wanted to avoid stereotyping mentally ill people. He also talked about his collaboration with his cast – headed by David Tennant in the role of Laing, and featuring Elizabeth Moss and Gabriel Byrne – and crew. Mullan also discusses his personal opinion on Laing’s psychiatry, his upcoming project based on the life of James Joyce, and more.
Mad to Be Normal reveals the story of R.D. Laing, the famous psychiatrist and one of Scotland’s greatest ever minds. Working out of Kingsley Hall in East London throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Laing performed various daring experiments on people who were diagnosed as mentally disturbed. His revolutionary methods involved experimenting with LSD on his patients and practicing a form of self-healing known as metanoia, causing outrage and controversy in the medical profession and radically changing attitudes and perceptions of mental health around the world.
The Lovers Film Festival celebrates 40 years with 70 films from 26 countries, international guests and tributes to LGBTQI+ cinema icons. Directed by Vladimir Luxuria, from 10 to 17 April at the Cinema Massimo in Turin.