Puzzling Minds (NOVA/WGBH Set)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C Episodes: B+
The many
DVDs WGBH has issued of their NOVA series is one of the most consistent in all
of DVD, but the 3 program Puzzling Minds
set is one of the strongest of many such sets yet. It features three exceptional programs that
remind us how far science has gone, needs to go and sadly how we hare allowing
ourselves and it to fall behind.
Mind Of A Serial Killer follows a horrific serial killer
case in Rochester, New York with analysis, archival footage and a series of
interviews including the famous FBI serial killer analyst John E. Douglas. Patrick Stewart narrates this very in depth
examination that covers a wide series of cases while examining who might be
behind the Rochester killings with deep scientific analysis atypical of the
many serial killer tales we have encountered.
Secret Of The Wild Child offers another kind of horrific
story, this time of young girl the authorities dub “Genie” who was locked in a
room until she was discovered at age 13, tied to a portable toilet and isolated
from all society until then. She can
barely walk, does not know how to speak any language and doctors try to help. This happens in 1970 and the tale of what
they try to do to help is sometimes as controversial as that of the results
beyond anyone’s control. The title
refers in part to Francois Truffaut’s film The
Wild Child, which is addressed through clips from the film that include
analysis.
Secrets Of The Mind focuses on the quest of a great
doctor named V.S. Ramachandran, who has taken advanced study of mind processes
to new levels. In researching various
brain injuries, he examines why (four cases get the most time) the brain might do
some of the unusual things it does under unusual circumstances. Cases include a blind man who can see where
he cannot see, a woman who is missing one side of her field of vision, a man
who is convinced his parents are impostors, one who believes he has become a
god and one who has lost his arm but feels pain as if it were there. It is excellent as all three are, making for
a stunning set.
The picture
quality is pretty much the same on all three discs, all 1.33 X 1 except the
most recent Secrets Of The Mind
installment at a letterboxed 1.78 X 1. All are good for documentary presentations
which often mix several types of video and sometimes film footage. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is also about
the same, with limited surrounds if that, but well recorded for documentary
work. All but Mind offer DVD-ROM PDF printable educational materials and all have
weblinks.
- Nicholas Sheffo
