Titicut Follies

A sort of harrowing tragicomedy, with images of force-feeding, bullying, strip-searching, and the staff's indifference to inmates, all culminating in an institution-wide talent show called the Titicut Follies.

The stage, where odd behavior reigns, blurs the lines of sanity and confers an hour of equality.

Titicut is primarily just shocking; it's an angry polemic about the state of the mental health care system, not a multifaceted portrait of an environment.

Titicut Follies is one of the most despairing documentaries I have ever seen; more immediate than fiction because these people are real; more savage than satire because it seems to be neutral.

It's a difficult film to watch or ever forget.

Titicut Follies is incredibly difficult to watch but it is a film of potent, declarative power.

I was also struck by the way Wiseman weaves singing and music throughout the movie: the traditions of the inmates and staff, and the way they beautify an environment which would seem to resist any attempt at beauty.

[VIDEO ESSAY] Made during an era when mental hospitals dotted America's map like flies on manure, "Titicut Follies" presents an invaluable time capsule.

Time has not diminished its emotional impact.