Educational Media Reviews Online

“Adolescents’ suicide, the main death cause of young people in Europe, is a social scandal which both concerns and appalls” film director Danilo Catti, as he features in this documentary six European students who have attempted suicide. The film follows the 6 students for 18 months and records their inner turmoil, their comments, and highlights the group and individual therapy sessions. Interspersed with this dialogue are reactions and comments from parents and family members. The film allows the viewer to experience a brief in-depth view of the feelings of the patients while in an emergency unit for teenagers in Geneva and travel in their world of depression and fear as they work with therapists and counselors to better their condition. The film also highlights the progress of 4 of the 6 students after 18 months through follow-up individual interviews. The interviews show their developing emotional maturity and discuss new pathways the students have chosen to help with the overwhelming losses previously felt while in the hospital. An encouraging statistic at the end lets us know that the suicide death rate of 15 to 24 year young adults in Geneva fell by over half between 1980 and 2000. There are disturbing scenes as the viewer observes the responses of the students to therapists with many silent moments that that were a natural part of the therapy process. The realistic portrayal of the students and the psychological impact on the viewer underscores the severity of the problem for these students and serves to emphasize how much progress can be made with professional intervention. Appropriate background music adds to the emotional power of the film while shifts in scenes for the 6 students maintain a smooth transition that keeps the interest of the viewer. Recommended for collections in psychology, health sciences, and parenting.