Jupiter's Wife

I was very intrigued by this woman's story and history. However I kept wanting to know more details which would have seemed to be easy to provide yet the director did not. What was provided gave us a peek into this woman's life and story but that's all. I searched on Wikipedia for more info on her as it appears she is still living. She has an entry but it only sums up the sparse info from the film.

None the less I found the film inspiring. People cope in different ways from the events in their lives. All in all Maggie Cogan appears to be surviving and is happier than many non-homeless people. Again... really wanted to know much more about her.

The first quarter of this movie went by so slowly that it almost put me to sleep. Fortunately, I hung onto it until the end, and I must say, it was one of the most thought-provoking documentaries I have ever seen. It made me more healthily skeptical about how much the modern sciences "medicalize" human behavior and make people fit under "boxes." Maggie's use of symbolism fit her own story that she was trying to weave, and it was sad that what others, specifically those who diagnosed her with a mental illness, could really look at was how it was not coherent with their own stories. Hence, they pushed her to fit into a box that supposedly deviates from that which is normal.

If you plan on watching it, make sure you watch it from beginning to end and pay attention to what Maggie says. You don't want to miss anything important.

The post above that references drug use as a potential cause of Maggie's illness is incorrect. Drug use CANNOT cause schizophrenia(paranoid type). Please ignore her misguided and misinformed post; it is at best asinine and at worst willfully and wantonly misleading.

Please watch this movie for two reasons: 1. it is a compelling look at how mental illness interacts with the realities of life, and how our society is woefully unwilling to provide social services and necessary care that these individuals need. 2. As a cautionary tale to all documentary film makers (you will understand why after watching it).

This is a very unusual documentary film. A film maker (Michel Negroponte) happens upon a mentally ill homeless lady (Maggie) who lives in New York's Central Park and befriends her--getting her to agree to be filmed over a period lasting several years. It is interesting to see the lady, as she clearly has schizophrenia and it's an interesting portrait of her life. Despite her being homeless and having a very tenuous hold on reality, Michel does not seem to get her assistance or call in competent psychological help. Instead, and this is the part that is pretty weird, he spends years trying to tease out what this woman's prior life had been based on her irrational though occasionally metaphorical speech as well as by making friends with people who know her. In some ways, his invasive following of the woman with a camera seems rather bizarre (perhaps exploitative) and his need to discover the truth about her made me occasionally wonder if BOTH of them were perhaps ill! Still, despite Michel's strange obsession and desire to make sense of Maggie's life, it is interesting and shows you the often marginal existence the severely mentally ill often have.

This is a great film for a psychology or social work class or for anyone who has a family member who is struggling with severe mental illness.

I saw this when it came out; it's a memorable documentary of a sadness and hope. I have certain reservations about the narrator's intrusion into Maggie's story, but the material is presented honestly. The surprise ending is a real shocker. I would recommend this film to anyone, and I hope the DVD has some updates on Maggie's story.

I wonder how N.Y. City is handling homeless people now. They may have even less of a chance. Perhaps medication is helping people like Maggie. Look, The Movie's great, how many lines am I supposed to write? It was in focus, I could see everyone real clearly. It was not too long. On the other hand, it was not unduly short.