Second Wednesday of each Month at 6:15pm at Jane Winslow's home.

Address given with RSVP. 

RSVP:  rsvp@nextvillagesf.org 415-888-2868.

February’s Film -

Jimmy P.  –– France/US   Arnaud Desplechin  2001  2 hrs. 2/12/20

Shortly after World War II ends, a Blackfoot Indian, Jimmy Picard or  Jimmy P. (Benicio Del Toro), who was injured by falling off a truck, enters a military hospital hoping to get help for intense headaches, dizzy spells, and bizarre dreams.  The doctors find nothing wrong with his brain––no injury from the fall––and believe he is suffering from schizophrenia. None of the conventional methods of that time, however, help rid him of the headaches and dizzy spells that drive him to the ground in agony.  A staff doctor recalls working in France with a psychoanalyst and anthropological researcher of Native American peoples.  His name is Georges Devereux (Mathieu Amalric), who rankled the conventional world of therapy in France by his unorthodox methods.  Out of options, the hospital invites him to come to the States. Devereux accepts.  When he meets Jimmy P., he explains to him that the treatment will use talk therapy, Devereux using his knowledge both of psychotherapy and of Native American culture.  “Jimmy P” is the story of that treatment and of the remarkable friendship that develops between two men who seem to be worlds apart.

Arnaud Desplechin, who has explored the world of the troubled mind in other films he has made, handles the story with great tact and sensitivity, not only to the process of trying to discover the source of Jimmy’s crippling symptoms, but also to the men’s evolving relationship. A Frenchman and a Blackfoot Indian, together, explore how tightly woven cultures can shape and misshape us, at times, almost driving us crazy.