It's amazing how Frederick Wiseman debuts his auteurish documentary style already fully formed and mature. Titicut Follies offers an immensely valuable look at the way western institutions treat those defined as criminally insane. It's the "fly-on-the-wall" kind of documentary that would define Wiseman's highly influential bent, but as he always stressed, even a non-narrated documentary cannot avoid making commentary through its choice of what to film and how to edit it together.

watching the force feeding was particularly grueling

That force feeding scene is horrible. So unhumane, especially how that man smokes his cigarette while forcing that tube down the other man's nose..

I don't find the subject matter as inherently fascinating as some of Wiseman's other films, but it's still very effective. An unsettling look at emotional abuse.

#668

This is much more chilling than I imagined it would be. There may not be outright brutality but the disgusting psychological treatment and living conditions of the patients are going to linger in my mind for a long time. There are some light moments but everything about the film from its contents to its very existence and the attempts to ban it is a constant reminder of how terrible things were and how far we've come as a society.

Very depressing. VERY unsettling. Cinéma vérité at its vérité-est.

Never have I seen so much penis! :-O

# 856

I always remember the thing about the psych guy asking the inmate how often he masturbates--and then critiquing his response. Sums up the whole thing for me.

Not quite as rough a ride as I was expecting, but the images will certainly stay with you for a while. Wiseman's camera is as passionless an observer as you'll find, which is necessary to keep this from boiling over into either needless hand-wringing or outright exploitation.

Unsettling stuff. Unfortunately several factors make it tough to understand what's being said a lot of the time.