A Brilliant Conflict

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Seamless and distinct Field portrays her characters beautifully. Based on a true story, the writer's capture the harrowing with precision and intellect without the aid of gore. Psychological terror is the most effective tool for the horrifying, when placed in the correct hands. Placed in the wrong hands will result in a mass of blubbering, red water and eyes that will roll. Luckily, Sybil isn't the latter, allowing the reader to be drawn in, horrified and hugely empathetic. Highly commended for skillful writing and superb acting, this film is one that crushes the stereotype for T.V movie. A work that will surely survives the ages, Sybil is tragically gorgeous.

This movie is ridiculously good! I watched it in high school for Psychology class. It is so well filmed even by today's standards. Definitely worth a buy and watch, because all I can say is "wow!" Get this movie if you like watching anything that deals with really weird scenarios and personality disorders.All I can say is that Sybil should be seen as a classic movie and so well filmed for the time that it came out. It will surprise you to see the quality of this film.Anyone that is interested in psychology at all will be stunned by this movie. I would definitely invest in this movie for my collection!

I hadn't seen this in full ever, but some scenes which I did manage to see as a very young child are as vivid as when they were first broadcast. This makes viewing the movie, which is unusually powerful for ANY medium (TV, cinema) a dissociative experience. I don't know what's coming and all of a sudden a deeply-rooted image or sound slaps me in the face. This is a grueling, traumatizing, horrific movie, but one that is authentically so. It's hard to believe TV was ever this courageous, or so dramatically mature. In retrospect, I should not have been allowed to watch this before I was an adult.For some time, multiple personality disorder (or D.I.D.) was under a cloud. And whether or not it's true, this movie is frightening. I find the explanation that a personality fractures to cope with abuse to be feasible. Man is, after all, a social animal. And when the sole persona has no alternatives, a society might be created of alternate figures to displace negative qualities onto, and to generate missing supportive others, to aid in awful situations. I find the serially solo appearance of said personalities (and their lack of knowledge of the others) to be less probable. The book noted 16 personalities. OK, so you can list the attributes of 16 personalities. That's a dead end! What function does each of 16 personalities do for such a person? And the exponential reporting of cases since 1977 is suspect.Sally Field is so committed to the part, I'm sitting here with mye eyes welling up from some of her episodes (under the piano), and sometimes just the anxiety and anguish she shows in some scenes. I've never seen anything like it. It's harrowing. Joane Woodward does a beautiful job playing the exact right person for Sybil to chance upon. I cannot even imagine how nerve-wracking it must have been to watch this with commercials for Ex-Lax and Pepto Bismal interrupting key parts.The later portion the movie is compromised by a few overused, conventional devices, including the "What is Love?" and "Let me fix everything with a hug" tropes. And Brad Davis in a "super-sensitive 70's single-dad" role is a poor, dated touch. The character is pure sap. He creeps me out almost as frequently as the Mother episodes.

I am not sure if anyone has commented on the ending, but I loved it! I am a huge movie buff, and this movie touched me a great deal. The ending contains her hugging herself under hypnosis, but she is really hugging one part of herself named Peggy. It was beautiful, and it makes me glad that I am an actress. Sally Field makes me truly believe that telling someone's story to the best of our ability is the most precious thing that we can do as actors and actresses. We add our own needs and wants and wishes to the character. We attempt to humanize them and show who they really are. Their triumphs, sufferings, loves, and hurts. We even show the most of what they loathe. This movie is an inspiration to everyone. Joanne Woodward was also wonderful in The Long Hot Summer and The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man On the Moon Marrigolds. Hopefully I spelled that right....Anyway, the film was wonderful, and I am thrilled that I had the honor of seeing it.