A while ago I did a course about the use of instutions, such as prisons and hospitals, in films which focused mainly on mental hospitals. One film that didn't feature was The Snake Pit which was nominated at the 1949 ceremony featuring a top notch performance by Olivia De Havilland. We are plunged straight into the action as De Havilland's Virginia wonders about her surroundings and what she's doing in what she believes in a prison. It turns out that Virginia has been commited into a mental instution and her story is told in flashback firstly by her husband Robert and then by Virginia herself. We find out about how Robert and Virginia met and then about Virginia's past engagement and her relationship with her parents. These flashbacks are transposed by Virginia's journey through the mental instution at different times she is in the most extreme ward and at other times she is in the low security ward with its strict nursing. Again we are never given all the information and don't often find why Viriginia is shifted around to various cells although we can usually guess due to watch leads up to it. All the time you are wondering about the other characters most notably Dr. Kik, Virginia's original doctor who at some times is asked not to treat her hinting at something darker in his past. Overall Virginia seemingly recovers but there is still something lurking in the background that you're not 100% sure.
Most of what works about The Snake Pit can be attributed to Olivia de Havilland who is absolutely brilliant in this film. Virginia is paranoid at some points, normal at others and she guides as through all the gaps in between and really makes us relate to her plight. De Havilland was nominated for Best Actress but lost out to the brilliant Jane Wyman in Johnny Belinda. De Havilland had previously put in a great performance in Hold Back the Dawn but this was much better however it would only be a year in which she triumphed in the same category. The story is also fairly clever cutting between time periods and different wards in the insitution, Virginia's realistaion and ultimate conclusion are both fairly neat and I felt the need for a neat wrap up after an interesting and thought-provoking film. The male characters also don't get a good rap although Robert seems nice enough and Dr Kik is seemingly a nice guy there's always the sense that they are manipulating Virginia. But overall this was a fantastic film that I'd never previously heard of but I'm so glad that I've seen and it would certainly suit the nature of the course I was on very well.
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