Titicut Follies
Encyclopedia
Titicut Follies is a 1967 American documentary film
directed by Frederick Wiseman
, about the treatment of inmates/patients at Bridgewater State Hospital
for the criminally insane, a Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Bridgewater, Massachusetts
. The title is taken from a talent show
put on by the hospital's inmates. (The talent show was named after the Wampanoag word for the nearby Taunton River
.) In 1967 the film won awards in Germany
and Italy
. Wiseman made a number of such films examining social institutions (e.g. hospitals, police, schools, etc.) in the United States.
's staff.
’s novel
and took that experience to inform his desire to direct. He drafted a proposal that was verbally agreed to by the superintendent, which later came into question when the film began distribution. Following that agreement filming did commence and while on location Wiseman recorded the sound and directed the cameraman with his microphone or hand directions. He hired John Marshall as his cameraman, an established ethnographic filmmaker.
Just before the film was due to be shown at the 1967 New York Film Festival
, the government of Massachusetts tried to get an injunction banning its release. The government claimed that the film violated the patients' privacy
and dignity. Although Wiseman received permission from all the people portrayed or the hospital superintendent (their legal guardian
), Massachusetts claimed that this permission could not take the place of valid release forms from the inmates. It also claimed that Wiseman breached an "oral contract" giving the state government editorial control over the film. However, a New York state court allowed the film to be shown. In 1968, however, Massachusetts Superior Court judge Harry Kalus ordered the film yanked from distribution and called for all copies to be destroyed, citing the state's concerns about violations of the patients' privacy and dignity.
Wiseman appealed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
, which in 1969 allowed it to be shown only to doctors, lawyers, judges, health-care professionals, social workers, and students in these and related fields. Wiseman appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case.
Wiseman has pointed out that he received permission from all of the people portrayed in the film or else their legal guardian
, in this case the superintendent of Bridgewater. He believes that the government of Massachusetts, concerned that the film portrayed a state institution in a bad light, intervened to protect its own reputation. The state intervened after a social worker in Minnesota
wrote to Governor
John Volpe expressing shock at a scene involving a naked man being taunted by a guard.
The dispute marked the first known instance in the history of the American film industry that a film was banned
from general distribution for reasons other than obscenity, immorality or national security. It was also the first time that Massachusetts recognized a right to privacy at the state level. Wiseman stated that, “The obvious point that I was making was that the restriction of the court was a greater infringement of civil liberties than the film was an infringement on the liberties of the inmates.”
Little changed until 1987, when the families of seven inmates who died at the hospital sued the hospital and state. Steven Schwartz represented one of the inmates. Schwartz’s client who was “restrained for 2 ½ months and given six psychiatric drugs at vastly unsafe levels - - choked to death because he could not swallow his food.” Schwartz claims that, “There is a direct connection between the decision not to show that film publicly and my client dying 20 years later, and a whole host of other people dying in between.” In fact, “In the years since Mr. Wiseman made ‘Titicut Follies’, most of the nation’s big mental institutions have been closed or cut back by court orders.” In addition, “the film may have also influenced the closing of the institution featured in the film.”
In 1991, Superior Court Judge Andrew Meyer allowed the film to be released to the general public, saying that as time had passed, privacy concerns had become less important than First Amendment
concerns. He also said that many of the former patients had died, so there was little risk of a violation of their dignity. The state Supreme Court has ordered that "A brief explanation shall be included in the film that changes and improvements have taken place at Massachusetts Correctional Institution Bridgewater since 1966." The film was shown on PBS on September 4, 1992 and marks the first and only Television premiere of the film. Before the film a narrative warning and an introduction with Charlie Rose
were played. At the end the message stating improvements were made was shown as well as a statement by a PBS representative to donate to the network to fund for more of their documentary program. This was likely included because it is presumed that PBS payed a hefty amount of money for distribution rights of the film.
The film is now legally available through the distributor, Zipporah Films, Inc., for purchase or rental on VHS
, DVD
and 16mm film for both educational and individual license. Zipporah Films released the DVD of the film to the home market in December 2007.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
directed by Frederick Wiseman
Frederick Wiseman
Frederick Wiseman is an American documentary filmmaker. He came to documentary filmmaking after first being trained as a lawyer...
, about the treatment of inmates/patients at Bridgewater State Hospital
Bridgewater State Hospital
Bridgewater State Hospital, located in southeastern Massachusetts, is a state facility housing the criminally insane and those whose sanity is being evaluated for the criminal justice system. It was established in 1855 as an almshouse. It was then used as a workhouse for inmates with short...
for the criminally insane, a Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Bridgewater, Massachusetts
Bridgewater, Massachusetts
For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Bridgewater, please see the article Bridgewater , Massachusetts.The Town of Bridgewater is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, 28 miles south of Boston. At the 2000 Census, the population was 25,185...
. The title is taken from a talent show
Talent show
A talent show is an event where participants perform their talent or talents of acting, singing, dancing, acrobatics, drumming, martial arts, playing an instrument, and other activities to showcase a unique form of talent, sometimes for a reward, trophy or prize...
put on by the hospital's inmates. (The talent show was named after the Wampanoag word for the nearby Taunton River
Taunton River
The Taunton River , is a river in southeastern Massachusetts in the United States. It arises from the confluence of the Town River and Matfield River, in the town of Bridgewater...
.) In 1967 the film won awards in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Wiseman made a number of such films examining social institutions (e.g. hospitals, police, schools, etc.) in the United States.
Synopsis
Titicut Follies portrays the existence of occupants of Bridgewater, some of them catatonic, holed up in unlit cells, and only periodically washed. It also depicts inmates/patients required to strip naked publicly, force feeding, and indifference and bullying on the part of many of the institutionMental Hospital
Mental hospital may refer to:*Psychiatric hospital*hospital in Nepal named Mental Hospital...
's staff.
Background
Titicut Follies was the beginning of the documentary career of Fred Wiseman, a Boston-born lawyer turned filmmaker. He originally took his law classes from Boston University to the institution for educational purposes and had “wanted to do a film there.” He began calling the superintendent of the facility looking for permission to film a year prior to production. Wiseman had previously produced The Cool World, a 1960 film based on Warren MillerWarren Miller (author)
Warren Miller was an American writer. Although he gained some notoriety for his books dealing with issues of race, as in The Cool World and The Siege of Harlem, and for his more political books such as Looking for The General and Flush Times, because of his early death due to lung cancer and his...
’s novel
The Cool World (novel)
The Cool World is a novel published 1959 written by American author Warren Miller. Subsequent adaptations for a play and film of the same title were subsequently released in 1960 and 1964 respectively....
and took that experience to inform his desire to direct. He drafted a proposal that was verbally agreed to by the superintendent, which later came into question when the film began distribution. Following that agreement filming did commence and while on location Wiseman recorded the sound and directed the cameraman with his microphone or hand directions. He hired John Marshall as his cameraman, an established ethnographic filmmaker.
Just before the film was due to be shown at the 1967 New York Film Festival
New York Film Festival
The New York Film Festival has been a major film festival since it began in 1963 in New York. The films are selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center...
, the government of Massachusetts tried to get an injunction banning its release. The government claimed that the film violated the patients' privacy
Privacy
Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...
and dignity. Although Wiseman received permission from all the people portrayed or the hospital superintendent (their legal guardian
Legal guardian
A legal guardian is a person who has the legal authority to care for the personal and property interests of another person, called a ward. Usually, a person has the status of guardian because the ward is incapable of caring for his or her own interests due to infancy, incapacity, or disability...
), Massachusetts claimed that this permission could not take the place of valid release forms from the inmates. It also claimed that Wiseman breached an "oral contract" giving the state government editorial control over the film. However, a New York state court allowed the film to be shown. In 1968, however, Massachusetts Superior Court judge Harry Kalus ordered the film yanked from distribution and called for all copies to be destroyed, citing the state's concerns about violations of the patients' privacy and dignity.
Wiseman appealed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The SJC has the distinction of being the oldest continuously functioning appellate court in the Western Hemisphere.-History:...
, which in 1969 allowed it to be shown only to doctors, lawyers, judges, health-care professionals, social workers, and students in these and related fields. Wiseman appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case.
Wiseman has pointed out that he received permission from all of the people portrayed in the film or else their legal guardian
Legal guardian
A legal guardian is a person who has the legal authority to care for the personal and property interests of another person, called a ward. Usually, a person has the status of guardian because the ward is incapable of caring for his or her own interests due to infancy, incapacity, or disability...
, in this case the superintendent of Bridgewater. He believes that the government of Massachusetts, concerned that the film portrayed a state institution in a bad light, intervened to protect its own reputation. The state intervened after a social worker in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
wrote to Governor
Governor of Massachusetts
The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...
John Volpe expressing shock at a scene involving a naked man being taunted by a guard.
The dispute marked the first known instance in the history of the American film industry that a film was banned
Banned films
For nearly the entire history of film production, certain films have been banned by film censorship or review organizations for political or moral reasons...
from general distribution for reasons other than obscenity, immorality or national security. It was also the first time that Massachusetts recognized a right to privacy at the state level. Wiseman stated that, “The obvious point that I was making was that the restriction of the court was a greater infringement of civil liberties than the film was an infringement on the liberties of the inmates.”
Little changed until 1987, when the families of seven inmates who died at the hospital sued the hospital and state. Steven Schwartz represented one of the inmates. Schwartz’s client who was “restrained for 2 ½ months and given six psychiatric drugs at vastly unsafe levels - - choked to death because he could not swallow his food.” Schwartz claims that, “There is a direct connection between the decision not to show that film publicly and my client dying 20 years later, and a whole host of other people dying in between.” In fact, “In the years since Mr. Wiseman made ‘Titicut Follies’, most of the nation’s big mental institutions have been closed or cut back by court orders.” In addition, “the film may have also influenced the closing of the institution featured in the film.”
In 1991, Superior Court Judge Andrew Meyer allowed the film to be released to the general public, saying that as time had passed, privacy concerns had become less important than First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
concerns. He also said that many of the former patients had died, so there was little risk of a violation of their dignity. The state Supreme Court has ordered that "A brief explanation shall be included in the film that changes and improvements have taken place at Massachusetts Correctional Institution Bridgewater since 1966." The film was shown on PBS on September 4, 1992 and marks the first and only Television premiere of the film. Before the film a narrative warning and an introduction with Charlie Rose
Charlie Rose
Charles Peete "Charlie" Rose, Jr. is an American television talk show host and journalist. Since 1991 he has hosted Charlie Rose, an interview show distributed nationally by PBS since 1993...
were played. At the end the message stating improvements were made was shown as well as a statement by a PBS representative to donate to the network to fund for more of their documentary program. This was likely included because it is presumed that PBS payed a hefty amount of money for distribution rights of the film.
The film is now legally available through the distributor, Zipporah Films, Inc., for purchase or rental on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
, DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and 16mm film for both educational and individual license. Zipporah Films released the DVD of the film to the home market in December 2007.
Awards
- Mannheim-Heidelberg International Filmfestival: Mannheim Film Ducat, Frederick Wiseman; 1967.
- Festival Dei Popoli: Best Film Dealing with the Human Condition; Florence, Italy; 1967.
External links
- Titicut Follies at the Zipporah Films official website
- "Therapeutic Censorship": An essay by antipsychiatry advocate Thomas SzaszThomas SzaszThomas Stephen Szasz is a psychiatrist and academic. Since 1990 he has been Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at the State University of New York Health Science Center in Syracuse, New York. He is a well-known social critic of the moral and scientific foundations of psychiatry, and of the social...
- Frederick Wiseman interview at ReasonReason (magazine)Reason is a libertarian monthly magazine published by the Reason Foundation. The magazine has a circulation of around 60,000 and was named one of the 50 best magazines in 2003 and 2004 by the Chicago Tribune.- History :...
magazine