ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Donald Seymour This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

milerjane This is less of a documentary review and more an eye opener to those who plan on seeing this movie.I know a man who was there. He's a beautiful and wonderful man who was tortured there as a small child. There was nothing wrong with him. He never knew a childhood of love and nurturing, only pain and suffering. He is one of many, "Normal" people who suffered at the hands of these doctor's at this horrific hospital.When and if you decide to watch this please keep in mind that what is filmed is only a small portion of the real horrors of which man kind is capable of. Then think how you too can help people see the truth behind many of the wrongs still happening today.

oOgiandujaOo_and_Eddy_Merckx Titicut Follies for me is an exploration of the human condition in general, an empathetic approach to both prisoners and staff in a hospital for the criminally insane (asyla have often been used as metaphors for society and it's power structures, since Poe's tale "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether"). It's also a reforming film, a quiet condemnation of the treatment of the prisoners in a systematic sense. The prisoners are kept naked seemingly for a lot of the time. It's not really clear why this is, and it's humiliating for them (they are covering up their modesty, and so they are aware of loss of dignity). On the other hand I'm sure that however inappropriate, it's done for (doubtlessly foolhardy) reasons of practicality (none of the guards want to look at naked prisoners all day I'm sure).There's bullying of a patient called Jim, an old man, who is asked questions repetitively, and then when he answers the guards pretend not to hear him and ask him to repeat himself. It's the kind of bored casual bullying that even bright well-adjusted emotionally intelligent kids slip into at school, "oh there's the weird up kid, let's push their buttons and see which whistles blow and which bells ring". It's not right, but it's a systematic failure, and typical of human behaviour, rather than the results of calculated actions by a group of twisted sadists.The chief guard appears to have a degree of megalomania, he wants all the applause at the follies and likes to be the centre of attention, and is apparently kind of put off when a nurse is showing a letter of thanks from a patient because he's no longer the centre of attention. I think he would of made a good TV host, but he wound up in a prison, so probably has issues with that.I was worried about voyeurism at one point. A man is force fed because he has refused to eat for three days and is skeletal, he is dead before the end of filming, and there is a match cut of him on the bed in the hospital after feeding to a picture of his corpse. That seems a little irresponsible to me. I don't see any critical context, if a patient has become insensible, surely it's irresponsible to let them die? The force feeding is not pleasant for sure, but it's not insufferable in my opinion. If the man had made clear his wish to die, then that's another matter entirely.One really effective criticism for me is that there is man who clearly doesn't belong in Titicut. He complains a lot to the doctors that the place is causing a problem for him that wasn't already there, and that he just needs to be sent back to the normal prison. He's an articulate individual and I was convinced by him. The panel of doctors he was talking to were pretty much ignoring him. He's telling them that the drugs he's on are reacting badly with him. At the end of the hearing the doctor is recommending his dosage of tranquilisers be upped (that really is insane). The man is capable of a lot of restraint, he's being ignored, and when the doctors interrupt him mid-flow and beckon for him to be taken out of the room he just goes. Me, you, and almost anyone else would have gone ballistic in the same situation. It seems he's been sent there because he complained that the coffee at the prison was being drugged, which apparently is a paranoid delusion, well they have done that at prisons a lot in the past, and I think they still do it today. Even if he's wrong, what the hell is he being sent to a hospital for the criminally insane for just for that? There's a suggestion which isn't fully fleshed out that certain individuals are there for being black and uppity, and some for being communist. It's hard to comment on that further when the film doesn't devote to much time to it, but that's the impression I got.The entertainment that is referred to in the title isn't a point of concern for me. There are a group of songs that the inmates perform. I didn't think there was any manipulation here. Their faces are very unguarded and they are very nervous during the performance, but you can see as soon as they have finished their song the relief and glee, it's probably the only time they'll be happy all year.I'm fond of DW Griffiths' aspiration that film could change the world, and guess what, that's what Wiseman's film did, there were directly-provoked reforms the year after the film was made. To what extent I don't know, but he achieved something there. It's undoubtedly one of the great documentaries.One last word is that people are apparently ignoring the main meaning of the word follies, which would be a plural of folly: "the state or quality of being foolish; lack of understanding or sense." That is what is going on at the institution, government by folly.This film, and pretty much all of Wiseman's films are available directly from Zipporah films on DVD, and are not stocked by Amazon.

winopaul OK, the quality is pretty bad but it is watchable. I have been hoping to catch a bit-torrent of this film for the last two years. As of Sept 15 2006 is is up on Google Videos, just search Titicut. I can see a direct influence this film had on somebody that was involved with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Highly recommended. Like a different poster, the people that run this site feel a need for me to post 10 lines of text. I guess they like loquacious people at IMDb. Am I up to ten yet? If the people that make these absurd policies need work they would be well qualified for employment as guards and head-doctors at a mental hospital. Watch the movie Skippy and then look in a mirror. And cry, IMDb Skippy, cry.

Allisonlj Just got through watching it on google video. May or may not still be free upon whomever reading this but it was when I saw it.There are reasons of course this movie is banned, mostly do to the lack of consent the patients could provide due to their mental instability.And i do mean instability. Its all depicted in a mental institution and follows, briefly, the lives of some of the inmates. Most, if not all i suppose, are criminally insane.The guards act often very rude and demeaning to the inmates and if this were a stylized Hollywood version would be good villains to carry around sticks. There's no violence however just lots of taunting and name calling.I don't especially recommend this movie as it tends to drag on and on and on. Very monotonous in other words. There's scenes where the guards just wont let up on their hassling of an inmate that eventually makes you want to throw a book at the computer. Perhaps thats the intention.Sure it's banned and that sparks curiosity in all it's forms. I recommend you find a way to view this movie for free where you can skip around and fast forward through the drag of it. Not worth it being released for general rent. I can't say I'd pay anything to see it.