Titicut Follies

For his first documentary, Frederick Wiseman locked himself up in the Bridgewater State Hospital in Massachusetts, a psychiatric clinic for convicted criminals. Although he had the full cooperation of the authorities before and during the shoot, they turned against him once they had seen the film. Controversies concerning the violation of the detainees' privacy led to numerous lawsuits, and Titicut Follies only gets screened occasionally as a result.

The documentary is a shocking portrayal of the treatment of the psychiatric patients, not only by hospital staff, but by society in general. It also serves as a blueprint for Wiseman’s later work, in which he has repeatedly taken an institution and held it up to the light. Wiseman films the humiliating, repressive practices without comment or talking heads, in a fashion that has become his trademark. A prisoner who tries to convince his doctor that his treatment is all wrong does not end up with less antidepressants, but more. In this hospital, there is no attempt to make people better—instead, it’s all about power.