Cine y memoria

Images of health
Contributors and sources: MP and RP were joint curators of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow quatercentenary exhibition “The Fine Art of Medicine” held at the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow, in autumn 1999 and have been co-authors of articles exploring the relation between art, medicine, and health. Sources have included monographs on artists; gallery andexhibition catalogues; medical text books and journals. Competing interests: None declared.
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Memories aren’t made of this: amnesia at the movies
Sallie Baxendale Most amnesic conditions in films bear little relation to reality. Since movies both inform and reflect public opinion, doctorsshould be aware of the prevalent myths about amnesia. This could be invaluable when informing patients and their relatives of a diagnosis of an amnesic condition and its likely prognosis

Department of Neuropsychology, Box 37, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London WC1N 3BG Sallie Baxendale clinical neuropsychologist sallieb@ion.ucl.ac.uk
BMJ 2004;329:1480–3

Althoughclinically rare, profound amnesia is a common cinematic device. In 1915, film makers spotted the dramatic potential of an amnesic syndrome, and it has continued to provide the vehicle for both tragedy and comedy. This review examines the frequent misconceptions and occasionally strikingly accurate portrayals of amnesic syndromes with reference to the scientific and medical case literature.

Earlycinema
Hollywood’s recent offerings, The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and 50 First Dates (2004), head up a long tradition of movies featuring amnesic characters. No fewer than 10 silent movies (before 1926) do so. In

one of the earliest, Garden of Lies (1915), predictable complications ensue when a doctor hires a new husband for an amnesic bride in an attempt to jog her memory.This film was an early trendsetter, and nuptials have precipitated amnesia in later films (Samaya, 1975; Kisses for Breakfast, 1941). In 1915 The Right of Way was one of the first films to depict amnesia as the result of an assault, and the trigger for starting life afresh. These themes are seen again in The Victory of Conscience (1916) and have been consistently used throughout the decades to...