Mielen tila

Vanhan Vaasan sairaala / The Old Vasa Hospital. Architect: Carl Ludvig Engel, 1844.

State of Mind / In the Depths of the Mind.
    FI 2007. PC: Jaakko Ilkka Productions Ltd. In co-operation with Yle TV2 Dokumenttiprojekti. P: Jaakko Ilkka Virtanen. Co-P: Iikka Vehkalahti, Timo Korhonen.
    D+SC: Tuija Halttunen. DP: Marita Hällfors. S: Janne Tiikkainen (recording), Jukka Nurmela (design). ED: Seppo Vakkuri.
    On-line editing, colour grading: Nipa Roine, Yle TV2. Graphics: Kirsi Vähäsöyrinki, Yle TV2. Technical support: Petri Levonen. Translation: Satu Virtanen.
    M: Jean Sibelius: Barcarola, op. 24 No. 10. "Sibelius, Works for Piano", Ondine 1995, perf. Ralf Gothoni.
    Telecast: 18.3.2008, 2.12.2008 YLE TV2 Dokumenttiprojekti. VET A-51323 – S – 82 min
    Featuring: Matti, Anne, Harri. Ylilääkäri / Senior Physician Markku Eronen.
    With: psychologist Ghitta Weizmann-Henelius, social worker Marja Gullman, nurse Marita Kalliokoski, physiatrist Päivi Toivonen, Anne-Maria Kallio-Eerikäinen, Osmo Pulli, Irmeli Dahlblom, Tarja-Liisa Luukkanen, Sanna Ravi, Vanha Vaasa hospital staff and patients.
    Loc: Vanhan Vaasan sairaala (VVS) / Gamla Vasa sjukhus / Vanha Vaasa Hospital
    Introduced by a lecture by Ulla Simonen on documentary film production.
    KAVI dvd (a dvd was screened due to machine trouble with the digital Betacam) of the English version In the Depths of the Mind screened at Cinema Orion, Helsinki (Finnish Film Production: Documentary Film Production), 1 April 2016

From the Vanha Vaasa Hospital homepage: "Vanha Vaasa Hospital is one of the two state mental hospitals in Finland. It falls within the authority of the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and provides special forensic psychiatric services for the whole country. The hospital has facilities for 152 patients."

"The patients in Vanha Vaasa hospital are in involuntary care. They either have been found not guilty by reason of insanity (see criminal responsibility) or are too dangerous or difficult to treat in other hospitals. The patients stay in the hospital usually for several years. In addition to psychiatric treatment, annually approximately 30 forensic psychiatric evaluations are given in Vanha Vaasa hospital."

AA: A documentary reconstruction of three medical and psychiatric evaluations to establish non compos mentis. Shot on location at the specialized mental hospital for criminal psychiatry of Finland, the Vanha Vaasa Hospital, with three criminal patients reconstructing their own testimonies. Real experts such as Dr. Markku Eronen appear as themselves.

A documentary feature relevant for criminology, jurisprudence, and psychiatry, documenting the careful process of establishing criminal responsibility in cases of insanity.

Matti has heard voices and committed thirty crimes. He is diagnozed with paranoid schizophrenia. He tells about his hallucinations about communication and intercourse with space flies.

Anne has stabbed her boyfriend with a knife. She has had paranoid thoughts. She realizes that her hallucinations are reflections of her psychoses. She has found help in religion.

Harri has committed a number of violent crimes. He has been a multi-user of drugs. He is diagnozed with serious mental illness. He plays the piano.

These are poignant stories of marginalization. They are are also stories about growing up to an ability to assume responsibility of one's actions. The victims' point of view is deliberately omitted.

We witness medical examinations including blood tests, magnet resonance imaging (MRI), and electroencephalography (EEG). They do not help much. Repeated personal interviews yield more.

These stories could be sensational. Tuija Halttunen reconstructs them in a matter-of-fact way, avoiding emphasis and dramatization. This cool, laconic, and sober approach, however, is not callous or indifferent. It is the approach of a good doctor or a good lawyer. It is the approach of justice and healing. Even from this darkest fate there can be a way out.

Good and valuable films sometimes fall through the cracks and do not find the reception they deserve.

Ulla Simonen had selected Mielen tila to be screened after her lecture because it deserves a revival.

An extraordinary film to be recommended as study material in faculties of law, medicine, and psychiatry everywhere. A daring film for all involved.

OUR PROGRAM NOTE BASED ON THE INTRODUCTION OF THE DOCUMENTARY PROJECT OF THE FINNISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION:
OUR PROGRAM NOTE BASED ON THE INTRODUCTION OF THE DOCUMENTARY PROJECT OF THE FINNISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION:

”Länsimaisessa oikeuskäytännössä kysymys syyntakeisuudesta ratkaistaan mielentilatutkimuksessa. Suomessa mielentilatutkimuksen suorittaa ammattilaisten ryhmä sellaisissa sairaaloissa, jotka on erikseen nimetty tekemään mielentilatutkimuksia. Tutkimuksen aikana rikoksentekijä tutkitaan sekä kliinisesti että psyykkisesti läpikotaisin, jotta oikeus pystyy tutkimuksen perusteella päättämään, onko tekijä ollut täydessä ymmärryksessä rikoksen tekohetkellä ja siten määrittelemään oikeudenmukaiseksi katsomansa rangaistuksen. Samalla on pyrkimyksenä löytää ymmärrettävä syy tapahtuneelle rikokselle.

Suomessa mielentilatutkimus tehdään käytännössä jokaiselle henkirikoksesta syytetylle, ja se voidaan tehdä pyydettäessä aina, kun tuomio syytteenalaisessa rikoksessa olisi yli vuoden.

Mielen tila -dokumenttielokuva alkaa siitä, mihin television poliisi- ja oikeussalidraamat päättyvät: rikos on ratkaistu ja rikollinen löytynyt. Tästä alkaa prosessi, jossa yhteiskunta pyrkii ratkaisemaan, onko rikoksentekijä järjestelmän edessä vastuussa teostaan.

Mielen tila seuraa mielentilatutkimuksen tekoa kolmelle rikoksentekijälle Vanhan Vaasan valtiollisessa mielisairaalassa. Kaksi miestä ja yksi nainen käyvät läpi perusteellisen psykiatrisen tutkimuksen, jonka tavoitteena on selvittää, onko rikoksesta syytetty ollut syyntakeinen tekonsa aikana.

Pelkistetty kerronta seuraa toteavasti tapahtumia, joita mielentilatutkimukseen sisältyy. Elokuva ei selittele eikä anna valmiita vastauksia, vaan ottaa katsojan osalliseksi päättämään kunkin rikoksentekijän kohtalosta: mikä on oikeudenmukaista ja oikein, kun ihminen asetetaan syytteeseen rikoksesta ja tekemästään pahasta.

Koruton ja kommentoimaton kerronta vie katsojan osalliseksi tapahtumaketjua saaden katsojan pohtimaan omaa historiaansa ja sitä, mikä estää meistä jokaisesta tulemasta rikollisia. Päällimmäisenä elokuva kuitenkin kertoo syyntakeisuuden määrittelemisestä ja siitä koneistosta, mikä sitä Suomessa suorittaa. Systeemi on tehokas, toimiva ja tarkoin säädelty. Henkilökohtaiset virhemahdollisuudet on pyritty karsimaan monen ihmisen osallistumisella tutkimukseen ja moninkertaisella lainsäädännöllä.”

Elokuva sai valtion elokuvatoimikunnan laatupalkinnon 2008.

– Dokumenttiprojektin esittely elokuvasta tv-esityksen yhteydessä. JS 1.4.2016

THE CRIMINAL CODE OF FINLAND

"An act of an insane person and an act by a person who is mentally deficient due to senility or another similar reason shall not be punishable" Criminal Code (39/1889) Chapter 3, Section 3, §1

"An act committed by a person affected  by a temporary mental aberration shall remain unpunished". Finland's Criminal Code, Chapter 3

 "If someone is regarded as not having been in full possession of his/her mental faculties at the time of the commission of the criminal act, he/she is defined as a person with diminished criminal responsibility". Criminal Code, Chapter 3, Section 4, §1

THE OFFICIAL VERDICT FORMULATION

"Ordered to psychiatric care against her will".

DVD SLEEVE NOTES BY JAAKKO ILKKA PRODUCTIONS

A documentary film on on forensic psychiatric examination.

The reason lies buried deep in the innermost recesses of the mind.

Forensic psychiatric examination is a Western means of assessing criminal responsibility. In Finland, almost all forensic psychiatric examinations are performed on offenders who have committed serious violent acts or other grave offences.

The film asks whether human evil can be explained through the physiology of the brain and the functions of the human mind: does the reason for evil acts and malevolence reside in the brain? From different perspectives, the film tries to unravel and understand the problem of evil acts.

The film follows three different cases of forensic psychiatric evaluations in the Vanha Vaasa State Hospital. One female and two male offenders go through an extensive psychiatric study. It consists of standardized pscyhological tests, physical examinations, laboratory tests, round-the-clock observation, and repeated interviews by a multi-disciplinary professional team. Based on the examinations, a forensic psychiatrist assesses the level of criminal responsibility and makes a psychiatric diagnosis.

The concept of criminal responsibility has been a controversial one throughout its history, and both the legal and the medical professions have debated it. In the Depths of the Mind is a deep dive into human responsibility, evil, and compassion. (Dvd sleeve notes by Jaakko Ilkka Productions).