"America is the female part of the world and is nymphomaniac. Her sexuality due to wars such as the sperm that a man puts a woman and a woman in her own body. It has the same effect that this is only on a gigantic scale. A gigantic and violent scale. Do you want to tell me that after sex you feel good and healthy? No. " From Titicut Follies (1967) by Frederick Wiseman documentary on patients at the Bridgewater State Hospital, recovery Institute for criminals deemed insane in Massachusetts. Film debut of one of the most famous American documentary filmmakers, self-produced with great difficulty, was kept under projection ban for 23 years, were considered offensive and obscene and guilty of violating the privacy of patients (although none of them or family members have ever denounced the author). Starting and ending with the scenes of a musical interpreted by the patient - precisely titled "Titicut Follies" - the documentary shows us the paradoxical way in which mental illness is made to become a "show" from the same institution that should take care of them. Just the fight against the institutions is one of the key points of the poetics of Wiseman and emerges with great force already from his first work showing violent clashes between patients and doctors / nurses hospital. A journey into the corners of human folly, in which the camera tries to be "invisible" to their subjects to describe their relationship with total sincerity with the company (eg. The monologue quoted above) and the community of the sick, showing us is the most shocking scenes, like that of a man nourished by force or another completely naked screaming in its completely empty cell, both the moments of tenderness to remind us how they too are human.

This is less of a documentary review and more an eye opener to those who plan on seeing this movie.I know a man who was there. He's a beautiful and wonderful man who was tortured there as a small child. There was nothing wrong with him. He never knew a childhood of love and nurturing, only pain and suffering. He is one of many, "Normal" people who suffered at the hands of these doctor's at this horrific hospital.When and if you decide to watch this please keep in mind that what is filmed is only a small portion of the real horrors of which man kind is capable of. Then think how you too can help people see the truth behind many of the wrongs still happening today.

Psychiatry is a dangerous pseudoscience cult that is the most destructive force humanity has ever seen. Governments support this abuse of human beings for power, profit, and degradation. If psychiatry continues and people do not put an end to it, history WILL repeat itself. The suffering and deaths will continue and families will be destroyed. Psychiatry MUST be stopped. It is a CULT.It is time to put an end to this dangerous pseudoscience and the psychiatric criminals who assault, abuse, innocent and vulnerable human beings. Psychiatrists must all be arrested and imprisoned for life for crimes against humanity.

This documentary was shot without the knowledge of the senior staff and management of the facility, making the shooting sometimes rather difficult. What is often lost on the modern viewer is the attitude toward the criminally insane and the mentally disturbed at the time. In the 1960s, not many people outside of the psychiatric world knew much of anything about disorders like schizophrenia and sociopathy, and this film gave an insight into the daily patterns of people with these disorders.Also, this film opened some eyes about the treatment of prisoners and of mental patients at the time. There is significant instances of abuse and neglect, including, as stated in the other review, an unsanitary force feeding of a patient who would not eat. It also shows electroshock convulsive therapy (basically putting two electric leads on either temple and sending a shot of electricity through the brain). There is significant nudity and maltreatment by the guards, but there are two things not readily apparent in any of the reviews or promos. First, this is a prison, and all prisoners had to experience some form of nude inspection. Second, this is also a population of mentally disturbed, who may use the clothing to harm themselves or others.As an aside, there are some seriously disturbing scenes including some involving bodily functions. If you have a strong stomach and heart, and you are interested in a reflection of this aspect of society in the 1960s, this documentary is a solid view. There is no soundtrack, and rather than making it seem more distant, I feel it allows you to feel like you are there, able to interpret your own feelings rather than have them influenced by the choice of music of the director / producer. This isn't a film for entertainment, it is educational.