by Andrew Bauman

In the film Altered States, Dr. Jessup seeks the “first truth” by way of psychoactive chemicals coupled with physical sensory deprivation. To reach his goal he ingests the drug and places himself in an isolation tank, a chamber where he floats in total darkness. Through the use of this tank he allows an experience totally uninhibited – he is cut off from both his body and (for the most part) the outside world. Despite the cerebral nature of his studies, Jessup goes through physical mutations as the experiments progress. The experience's gravity of impact manifests in a tangible form – his body begins to reflect his mind. This mirrors the cinematic experience; the theater is an isolation tank.

Going to see a movie is committing to two hours in a dark room. These rooms are optimized for comfort – reclining seats, armrests, A/C – and create an atmosphere conducive to sleep. In effect, existing in the room is itself a kind of sleep – it is a rejection of the outside world in favor of a space where the individual can (ideally) shut down their train of thought and act solely as a channel. This is why the exodus is abrasive; the feeling is kin to waking up from a long dream; the tank door has opened.

If a theater is the isolation tank, a film therein is the drug; it is the dream in that sleep. Jessup believes his experiences in the tank will lead him to an absolute truth, and ultimately he learns nothing; yet in knowing nothing he begins to value the transient, acknowledging his place in a mortal scheme. Film has the same potential of effect: it affirms a sense of the universal through a mirror of the tangible. Within the theater this mirror is sole icon and is perfected as the single point of focus.

The physical transformation of Jessup is inverted in film structure: instead of mutations of the body, the elements of film transform into a whole. The information of a film is not used to expand, but contract into precision. Jessup's body was almost destroyed by the impact of his experiments, but the body of a film builds towards completion as it progresses. These transformations also parallel: film takes internal concepts, emotions, and puts them in a physical scheme. The translation of word to flesh is completed, as with Jessup's tank.

Ultimately Jessup sought peace. He imagined absolute truth would lead to perfection, a completion of self, and to that end was willing to sacrifice everything. The audience of a film mirror Jessup: the viewer searches for pieces to completion. The theater experience is a meditation; the viewer can both suspend & examine itself to as fine a point as the film suggests. By both suspending reality and perfecting it, film places the audience in a state kin to dream; like a dream film can be therapeutic, offering a truth not absolute but personal.