Lars and the Real Girl

Featuring: 
Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider
Film director: 
Craig Gillespie
Event date: 
Thu, 29/05/2014

Sometimes you find love where you’d least expect it. Just ask Lars, a sweet but quirky guy who thinks he’s found the girl of his dreams in a life-sized doll named Bianca. Lars is completely content with his artificial girlfriend, helped along by a supportive community of colleagues, friends and family, but when he develops feelings for Margo, an attractive co-worker, Lars finds himself lost in a unique love triangle, hoping to somehow discover the real meaning of true love.

Offbeat and endearing, this romantic comedy takes a fresh look at dating and relationships and dares to ask the question: What’s so wrong with being happy?

Following a FREE screening of the film a panel of academic experts touched on issues of mental health, healthcare, community and love. The experts were:

Prof Greg Maio (Cardiff School of Psychology), Dr Mat Hoskins (Psychiatrist), Dr Martin O'Neill (Cardiff School of Social Sciences) and Julia Thomas (artist in residence for the MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics/co-founder of ATTIC contemporary art project and gallery in Roath, Cardiff).

Sponsored by the Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute as part of a series of events exploring mental health and neuroscience issues.

NewNeurologo

Articles on this film:

Lingering on Pink and the Suspension of Disbelief

Julia Thomas
I'm going to draw on some significant visual aspects within the film Lars and the Real Girl and also relate the film to an art project and gallery space that I've been running in Roath, Cardiff. ATTIC involved art residencies, exhibitions, discussions and events exploring how we understand the mind personally, culturally and scientifically.

Mental Health, Communities and Stigma

Martin O'Neill
I was recently asked to give a talk on mental health and community as part of the Cardiff sciSCREEN initiative following a showing of the film “Lars and the Real Girl”.