Titicut Follies (1967) YIFY - Download Movie TORRENT

Over a year ago, I talked about Let There Be Light, a film made by famed director John Huston that details the mental anguish patients of a mental hospital go through on a daily basis. The film documented World War II veterans, and most of them are traumatized because of their own terrible experiences, not because they were mistreated by the staff. Despite this, the film was considered so shocking that it wasn't released until 1980. Titicut Follies has a very similar premise, except here, I think the suffering is even more extreme. Titicut Follies is filmed at the Bridgewater Correctional Institution in Massachusetts, which resembles a real version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. This is because not only are the patients depicted made to live in their own filth for days on end and forced to live in squalid conditions, but the medical staff show truly grotesque behavior towards them. Some scenes in this documentary are so awful I don't know if I can discuss them. One scene has a few guards escort a man (who used to be a math teacher) into a room in order to shave him. All the while, one of the guards keeps repeating that he can't hear whatever he was saying. He's only doing this to agitate and get a reaction out of him, since he seems to take great enjoyment in bothering him. Later, they take him to another room that has absolutely no furniture, toilet, or anything in it at all (except a window). I really don't get what the point of such a hellish place is, especially in a mental institution. It makes even a prison cell look pleasant. Another part has some guy doing what looks like squats in a similar room, while he screams at the top of his lungs. Probably the most egregious scene has guards taking someone out of his room since he refused to eat for 3 whole days. They lay him down and put a tube into his nose which extends all the way into his stomach. It shows how life in this place was so horrible, some people were willing to kill themselves to escape it, but the guards couldn't let them do that. While it's easy in retrospect to pin the blame for this kind of treatment on the ones running and staffing the facility, it's not entirely their fault. By the time this movie was made, they didn't have the types of medicine we now do. It's kind of like how lobotomies used to be seen as an effective way of curing those who were thought to be mentally incurable, but now, the lobotomy is understood to be a grossly barbaric procedure. Interspliced with all these disturbing things, there's clips of musical performances, mental patients playing games, and other bizzare spectacles. While I think this film is quite important because of what it represents, I'd be out of my mind to recommend it to anybody. Let's just say it's not the kind of thing you would watch for entertainment. I'm generally used to violent films and tv programs involving war, but many of the things shown in Titicut Follies are real sickening. It's also worth pointing out that because of this film, the authorities at Bridgewater have strove to do better and make more hospitable living conditions for the patients there, which may or may not mean anything. Overall, this movie is undeniably difficult to look at, but it is historically important because it woke people up and gave them a glimpse into how inhumane a lot of these places were. Wiseman lived up to his name when he decided to expose this place.

In 1967, documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman made his first and most controversial film that uncovered the truth of what goes on behind the close doors of a seemingly typical mental asylum. The film is called Titicut Follies, and has proved itself to be one of the most controversial and enigmatic films of all time. It focuses on one of the touchiest subjects, and makes it so you can't turn away even when you feel you should.Titicut Follies documents life at the Bridgewater State Hospital for the criminally insane. It shows graphic depictions, in black and white, of the horror and wretched tainting of humanity and the dehumanizing of innocent people that took place at the institution. The patients in the asylum are taunted by guards, forced to walk around in the nude because "it is cheaper," and are abused verbally and physically everywhere they turn.The most chilling aspect is when one man, dubbed "the paranoid schizophrenic," claims that he feels worse now than when he checked into Bridgewater State. This leads to the shocking conclusion that maybe the asylum causes mental illness rather than prevents it. There is also a very haunting scene of force-feeding a reluctant patient whose food is then contaminated with cigarette ash from the person who is forcing the tube down his nose. The scene provided me with one of the most stunning and stiffening feelings I've ever seen in a film.Shortly after it was completed, Wiseman was the target of the Massachusetts government who was threatening to ban the film completely from screenings and Television. The government stated that it was a violation of the patients' lives and profit or publicity shouldn't be made at their expense. Wiseman swears that the government was trying to protect a state run institution, and because of the graphic nature and honesty of the documentary the people simply didn't want to give one of their facilities a bad name. I truly believe him. It seems like the typical move for a state government. Hide the truth, protect the wealthy.Being that the film is so rare, how did I stumble upon a copy? Titicut Follies had one and only Television run in 1992 on PBS. The film is available on DVD, but is so rare and expensive coming across a copy is harder than it may seem. My uncle of all people had a copy of the one time it was broadcast on TV. A title card with a strict and emotionless narration about the film's content and an introduction by Charlie Rose preceded the film itself. After the film, a tongue-in-cheek statement about the asylum changing its ways was shown immediately followed by a PBS representative asking the viewer to call the number on screen to donate ten dollars to help the network invest in more documentaries.So what was the film doing for thirty-two years? Wiseman continued to direct many other documentaries after Titicut Follies, where he focused on a variety of subject matters, at the same time try and give his first effort the rightful release it deserved. Finally, in 1991, he did after a Supreme Court ruled it acceptable since many of the patients filmed were deceased, their legal guardians at the time of the film were notified and each one confirmed to the use of the patient in the documentary, and as long as a statement was made that the institution was gradually different.But is it? Currently, what happens behind those Bridgewater doors stays behind those Bridgewater doors. It's an undiscovered mystery. I have a feeling it does possess some essence of normality in the present day. In the sixties, if you were criminally insane you were treated with carelessness. Over the years, I believe people have grew more accepting and tolerate of the unfortunate soles who are simply "not all there." I'm sure now in asylums people are much more patient and understanding with the conditions and trying to help.That's not to say a sheet should be placed over past events. The treatment is nonetheless horrifying to this day, and Titicut Follies is for the people seeking the harsh truth. While it will be neglected by people that don't believe they can handle the subject matter, it truly should be viewed by everyone. It's already sad that the film has had such trouble getting some sort of broad release. This is the kind of film some people need to be forced to watch. Anyone in the medical field should be obligated, and any ordinary human should be aware at the very least.Directed by: Frederick Wiseman.

Titicut Follies

1967

Action / Documentary

Titicut Follies

1967

Action / Documentary

Plot summary

Director

Top cast

Tech specs

Movie Reviews

What a horrible place

Needs a wide release to inform not to inflate

3 Comments