Saturday, December 29, 2018

THE PRESIDENT'S ANALYST is still cool.




One of James Coburn's movies that somehow feels very contemporary is THE PRESIDENT'S ANALYST (1967). The plot concerns a psychiatrist tapped to be the US President's analyst, who becomes increasingly paranoid as he learns more and more confidential secrets from his patient. It turns out that his paranoia is justified as the international espionage community converge on him to try to learn those secrets. All of this is against the backdrop of plenty of still biting social commentary and some wonderful prescient ideas about technology.

Aside from reviews, the movie is mentioned in different places like this legal blog:
Above the Law

and this therapist's article about privacy: Forbes celluloid shrinks

Here's someone else who agrees that it's prescient: Slant

I like that the film is being rediscovered, like this showing a couple of years ago: BAMPFA 

It has even been used as support material for psychoanalytic studies college courses: Atlanta Psychoanalysis movie mania

Jim's behind-the-scenes stories of making this picture are some of the most fun in the book.

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