Thanks for alerting me to a film that has completely passed under my radar till now. It looks very interesting. I am struck at first reading by the name Dr West. My first thought was that is seems chosen as a satire of 'The West' , or western values in general: is the implication that we tinker with people's minds in order to make them fit in? That is reminiscent of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, of course. And then I remembered the infamous Dr Jolyon West, who was active in various places (including the CIA and the Haight Ashbury) at the time. I'm sure that must be coincidence.
This is a fascinating point we had not considered. We did some further research on the writer and director (looked at wiki and few other places) to see whether there were hints that either was particularly keen on criticizing the west and we did not find much in the author. The director had some... connections via relatives. This could very well be a satire of the west as the film is also critical of other aspects of their society/world.
This came out some ten years before Cuckoo's Nest. That is a really interesting point re Jolyon West which we also had not considered. I wonder how well known he was/his work when the author was writing the novel.
Thanks for alerting me to a film that has completely passed under my radar till now. It looks very interesting. I am struck at first reading by the name Dr West. My first thought was that is seems chosen as a satire of 'The West' , or western values in general: is the implication that we tinker with people's minds in order to make them fit in? That is reminiscent of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, of course. And then I remembered the infamous Dr Jolyon West, who was active in various places (including the CIA and the Haight Ashbury) at the time. I'm sure that must be coincidence.
Hi Jason,
This is a fascinating point we had not considered. We did some further research on the writer and director (looked at wiki and few other places) to see whether there were hints that either was particularly keen on criticizing the west and we did not find much in the author. The director had some... connections via relatives. This could very well be a satire of the west as the film is also critical of other aspects of their society/world.
This came out some ten years before Cuckoo's Nest. That is a really interesting point re Jolyon West which we also had not considered. I wonder how well known he was/his work when the author was writing the novel.