Galway Film Fleadh

Robert Mullan – Mad to Be Normal #FilmFleadh2017

Play Podcast
12 min. and 23 sec.

A film about R.D. Laing’s radical LSD experiments in the 1960’s

Play Podcast
12 min. and 23 sec.

PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Robert Mullan, director of the film Mad to Be Normal.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture

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.

For the official website of the festival, click here.
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  • Reporter
    Matt Micucci
  • Guest
    Robert Mullan
  • Interviewee role
    director
  • Film title
    Mad to Be Normal
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