Titicut Follies (1967) Director: Frederick Wiseman

Throughout the course of this film I not only felt uncomfortable and disturbed, but also empathetic for the subjects. At the beginning of the film it was difficult to comprehend what was being said and for what purpose the men were being interviewed. I believe that Wiseman created this lack of clarity on purpose so that the viewers could observe the surroundings instead of the dialogue in order to understand where the footage was documented. Wiseman definitely introduced the content in an interesting way that allowed the viewer to learn what was going on through actions instead of words. 

The way this documentary was filmed with close ups, slow pans, and holding shots made me feel violated and frustrated for the subjects. I had a particularly difficult time watching the part that featured Jim. It was as if the doctors were trying to make him go crazy by treating him poorly, watching him, and repeatedly asking him questions. When the person who is shaving his face repeatedly asks “why isn’t your room clean Jim?” I felt like I was going crazy too. I believe that Wiseman strategically placed repetition into the documentary to portray how annoyed the patients must feel. When the camera stares at Jim stomping around his room I felt as if I should turn away. I think that Wiseman was trying to portray the violation of privacy that the patients experience in the part where the camera zooms into Jim’s face and Jim stares back for about 15 seconds. During this part of the documentary I felt like I was producing an unwanted gaze; Wiseman is successful at portraying feeling in the viewer when watching this documentary.

The lack of confidence and strength that the patients possess is also shown by the fact that they are always naked. It is obvious that the doctors and guards have power and control over the patients because of the way they treat them and because they are clothed and the patients are not. The fact that the men are denied the right to even wear clothes is disrespectful and rude. 

Overall, this documentary evokes a lot of sympathy in the viewers. When I was watching I could sympathize with how badly the patients were feeling. One part of the film that I found extremely interesting was at the beginning when one of the patients yelled out “I want all those men arrested” when referring to the doctors. Although this man was clearly mentally unwell and seemed to be talking nonsense I thought he had a good point. 

The way that Wiseman edited this documentary together made it seem as though the doctors were the ones tricking the patients into being mentally unwell. By asking questions unrelated to medicine, heavily medicating the patients, and telling them that they were crazy it was clear that the doctors were a big part of the problem. When seeing this mental hospital from Wiseman’s point of view it is clear that the patients are literally stripped of their rights and freedoms. 

Clip of the film that portrays how badly the patients are treated: 

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e5e_1233082303