Learning on ScreenWalter
Sadly, these attitudes are not something endemic to the uneducated few, and Walter also suffers at the hands of mental health professionals. Frears paints an uncannily accurate portrayal of mental health institutions in the 1960s, and does not shy away from showing the gory detail of life in such places. In her seminal work Put Away: A Sociological Study of Institutions for the Mentally Retarded (1969), Pauline Morris carried out a UK-wide survey of institutions ranging from clean to unsanitary, from those with recreation facilities to those with none, but what all of these institutions shared in common were extremely cramped living spaces, precious little privacy and a horrendous lack of adequately trained staff. In Walter the institution caters to very basic needs, and patients share large, cramped dormitories with little opportunity for recreation. Staff respond to patients with a lack of interest, failing to interacting with them beyond the basic requirements of their jobs, which they are not properly trained to do. Particular to the institution is a fear of sexual relationships between those with mental disabilities, at the time inspired by the idea that the disabled would pass on their conditions to their offspring. When Walter is first admitted to the hospital he is asked ‘Can you subtract? Multiply?’ to which his social worker scoffs ‘I hope not!’ However, the film refreshingly eschews any moral position, and sex for Walter is shown to be an exhilarating and enjoyable experience.
Sarah Miles and Ian Mckellen in 'Walter and June' (image © ITV Global Entertainment)
With his use of extreme close-ups in small spaces Frears creates an atmosphere of confinement that is particularly fitting to Walter’s situation. He is likened to a caged bird, which might perhaps explain his affinity for pigeons. At home Walter’s mother leads him to believe that he is under constant surveillance by his dead father: ‘Your dad is watching you…Do you want him to ask Jesus to punish you?’ At work he is bullied and on one occasion locked in overnight by male colleagues who are concerned with projecting an image of masculinity to which Walter does not conform, and following his parent’s death he is also imprisoned by the authorities who do not know what else to do with him. Between attitudes to mental disability at home, work, and the institution, Walter simply exchanges one cage for another. After escaping with June, he finds some freedom in learning how to fend for himself in the real world. Both Walter and Walter and June deal with the vulnerability of the mentally disabled in a society lacking in education and decent care facilities. However, both films also show the potential of those affected by mental disability to grow – to engage in loving relationships, and to learn how to live with independence and dignity. If the proper structures had been in place for Walter, the viewer is left to wonder, perhaps, just perhaps, things might have turned out differently.
Laura Mayne
Research Assistant, Channel Four Television and British Film Culture
www.c4film.co.uk/
