[Scenes in movement. Movement disorders on film]

There are publications in which various neurological diseases are analysed on film. However, no references have been found on movement disorders in this medium.

A total of 104 documents were collected and reviewed using the internet movie data base (IMDb). The majority were associated with dystonia, Parkinson's and tics, were American commercial productions, and the most common genre was drama.

The cinema usually depicts old men with developed Parkinson's disease. However, motor complications only appear in 19% and non-motor symptoms in 14%. The image of dystonia is generally that of a young man, with disabling dystonia secondary to childhood cerebral palsy. Tics appear associated with Tourette's syndrome, with the excessive use of obscene expressions and with very few references to other important aspects of this syndrome, such as mood and behavioural changes. The majority of tremors portrayed on film are associated with Parkinsonism and are not pathological. Myoclonus appears anecdotically and is normally symptomatic.

Parkinson's disease is the type of movement disorder that the cinema portrays with greater neurological honesty and in a more dignified manner.