• Tweet

Four out of Five stars
Running time: 100 mins

This passionately directed and revelatory documentary about the Hemingway family’s history with mental illness and suicide is extremely interesting and wholly engaging, thanks to Mariel Hemingway’s admirable honesty and the haunting archival footage of the tragic Margaux Hemingway.

What’s it all about?
In 1976, Margaux Hemingway, the model and granddaughter of legendary writer Ernest Hemingway, was quickly becoming the actress of the moment. That was until her younger sister, Mariel Hemingway, came along. Starring as her on-screen little sister in 1976’s Lipstick, Mariel received incredible praise for her performance and went onto receive an Oscar nomination for her role in Woody Allen’s Manhattan. Margaux, on the other hand, got left behind, turning to a life of eating disorders, mental illness and substance abuse.

Now, at the age of 51, mother-of-two Mariel speaks candidly about her family and its history with suicide and mental illness in this biographical documentary, produced and directed by Barbara Kopple. Featuring archival footage of three generations of the Hemingway family and personal interviews with Mariel and her two daughters, Dree and Langley, Running from Crazy documents Mariel’s attempts to prevent suicide across the nation and lead a rigorously healthy lifestyle in the hope of escaping the tragic fate that her relatives had.

The Good
Running from Crazy is a passionately directed and fascinating account of the Hemingway family. Powerfully edited, its impressive amount of archival footage showing Mariel’s troubled older sisters, Margaux and Muffet, laughing and socialising with one another as they discuss their family and upbringing is haunting to watch and these scenes are truly fascinating, providing a strong portrait of the charming young women that were ultimately cursed by their beauty and family legacy. Merged with present day interviews with Mariel Hemingway, who tries so hard to be normal and provide a sense of normality for her children, these shots also work well in communicating the evident isolation felt by Mariel from her family.

The Equally Good
It could be said that Mariel is feeling sorry for herself and she does tend to overreact ever so slightly in certain everyday situations (this is evident in a scene showing Mariel throwing a tantrum with her boyfriend whilst going rock climbing), but in truth she comes across as a rather remarkable and courageous individual. Discussing how she took care of her cancer-stricken mother in her teens and the sex abuse that went on in her family, Mariel lets herself become completely vulnerable for the camera and she’s an endearing and likeable focus for this documentary.

Worth seeing?
With its strong direction and powerful archival footage, Running from Crazy is a revelatory documentary about the Hemingway family’s troubles; it is truly fascinating and definitely worth seeking out. Recommended.