As a theater artist, the versatileElizabeth Swados often works on the fringes, writing, directing or providing music for pieces that bend forms and challenge audiences. But she is completely accessible in an animated film on Monday night on HBO. The subject is one she no doubt wants everyone to understand. The movie is “My Depression (The Up and Down and Up of It),” and it’s about her struggle with that condition. The film is adapted from her 2005 picture book — the screenplay is credited to Ms. Swados, David Wachtenheim and Robert Marianetti (the three also directed the film) — and it’s as charming and whimsical a discussion of depression as you’re likely to find. And as musical. Yes, the song “Suicide Mobile” (sung by Steve Buscemi) may be a little dark for some tastes, but, like the rest of this film, it’s honest and forthright as it talks about a condition often misunderstood and misrepresented.
“Depression can come in different forms for different people,” the Swados character, voiced by Sigourney Weaver, explains as we see her walking through the world’s gloomiest grocery store — the shelves are stocked with products labeled “Tired,” “Sad,” “Defeated,” “Doubt.” But the character concentrates on her own particular version, which she likens to “a little cloud that just doesn’t seem to go away.”
[For more of this story, written by Neil Genzlinger, go to http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07...-to-others.html?_r=0]
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