Titicut Follies

Frederick Wiseman, 1967. 16mm • One of the most disturbing documentaries ever filmed, Wiseman’s brutal examination of the Massachusetts Institution for the Criminally Insane reveals cruelty far beyond what is even remotely acceptable today. Mundane acts such as getting a shave or being served a meal become exercises in torture. The only movie in U.S. history to be banned for reasons other than obscenity or national security, it was ironically accused of mistreatment of the inmates by revealing their extreme mistreatment in the facility itself. A landmark film in terms of the capacity of documentary to bring about reform.

Un documental de denuncia, contra el sistema. La psiquiatría en los años sesentas. La locura como espectáculo. La descripción de una institución total: el hospital psiquiátrico, comúnmente conocido como "el manicomio", en donde se encierran a los locos. Un espacio de poder.

No fue sino hasta el siglo XVIII, en la ilustración, que se empezaron a encerrar a los locos por considerárseles un peligro para el buen funcionamiento de la sociedad. Antes de eso, convivían con la gente "normal", rondaban y vagaban libres por las calles sin que nadie los molestara. Hoy en día las cosas son muy distintas y al menor indicio de estar "perdiendo la cabeza" uno termina empastillado o en el peor de los casos, encerrado. Antes, Dios decidía. Pero a partir de la ilustración, entre Sade, Kant y los demás pensadores, se empezó a borrar la imagen de Dios, y bueno, poco a poco Dios fue desapareciendo del mapa, hasta dejar el lugar vacío para que el ser humano se inflara de poder y creara todas estas instituciones y sistemas a través de los cuales podía hacer uso de su poder.

En "El Sistema de los Objetos" Baudrillard expone que la mejor mascota es el objeto puesto que refleja nuestra imagen tal como la queremos ver. El manicomio podría verse como un sistema de objetos, en el que se refleja la capacidad que tenemos de controlar lo incontrolable, algo que tal vez no es tan cierto como este reflejo nos lo hace creer.

Es pretender que no pasa nada al esconder a los locos en un mismo lugar inaccesible a la gente común y corriente. Es echar la basura debajo de la cama y aparentar tener una recámara limpia y ordenada. Creo que Wiseman cuestiona de manera excelente la capacidad de un ser humano para clasificar a otro ser humano como loco o cuerdo. En numerosas ocasiones resulta que el "cuerdo" en realidad está más loco que el propio "loco". Insistimos en querer creer esta imagen que nosotros mismos hemos creado de nosotros, en la que somos capaces de distinguir el bien del mal, de ser objetivos, justos e imparciales, pero ¿lo somos?

Una cámara tan distante como las de seguridad. Un sonido directo sin musicalización (fuera de la grabada de manera directa). Una excelente edición que termina por cohesionar el material, revelando un segundo nivel de lectura o interpretación, en el que la crítica al sistema se hace evidente. En general me parece brillante el documental, pues a pesar de que muestra continuamente imágenes inquietantes que lo mantienen a uno en constante tensión, logra invitar a la reflexión al espectador, sobre cuestiones que parecieran ir más allá de la misma película, como lo son las instituciones totales en general, el ejercimiento del poder y la necesidad de un sistema de control.

Frederick Wiseman

Nationality: American.
Born: Boston, 1 January 1930.
Education: Williams College, B.A., 1951; Yale Law School, L.L.B., 1954; Harvard University.
Family: Married Zipporah Batshaw, 29 May 1955, two sons.
Military Service: Served in U.S. Army, 1954–56.
Career: Practiced law in Paris, and began experimental filmmaking, 1956–58; taught at Boston University Law School, 1958–61; bought rights to The Cool World by Warren Miller, and produced documentary version directed by Shirley Clarke; directed first film, Titicut Follies , 1966; received foundation grant to do High School , 1967; directed three films funded in part by PBS and WNET Channel 13 in New York, 1968–71; contracted to make documentaries for WNET, 1971–81; continued to make films for PBS, through 1980s; also theatre director, late 1980s.
Awards: Emmy Award, Best Documentary Direction, for Hospital , 1970; Peabody Award; Career Achievement Award, International Documentary Association.
Address: Zipporah Films, Inc., 1 Richdale Avenue, Suite 4, Cambridge, MA 02140, U.S.A.

Entrevista realizada por Bilge Ebiri(2008)

Documentarian Frederick Wiseman on How the Idaho Legislature Can Help You Understand Barack Obama

Why the Idaho state legislature?
My films are basically about American life as expressed through its institutions. I’ve always wanted to do a film about a state legislature but hadn’t gotten around to doing it. Then I met somebody who introduced me to the people at the Idaho legislature, and they said okay — so much of this is serendipity, really.

There’s also an added bit of serendipity because of the presidential campaign: Barack Obama’s opponents tend to dismiss his experiences as a state senator…
I don’t know enough about what Obama actually did in the Illinois legislature. I do know that some people are more active participants than others, but anybody who gets anything done will learn a lot about how the democratic process works. That’s basically what the film is about, actually. Theoretically anyone that takes an active role in a state legislature will be very experienced in the daily give-and-take of politics, the coalition building, bargaining, negotiation — all the things that make up the political process.

So do you just sit in the corner with a camera, or do you actively try and find the story as you’re shooting?
Both. You don’t really know you have a story until after a sequence is over. That’s part of the fun of it. I’m always surprised. It’s a bit like Las Vegas. You’re shooting craps and going on your instinct. And you’re making choices. I was there eleven and a half weeks, and I got 160 hours of film. That’s a lot of film, but I was there about 60 hours a week; that’s already 660 hours of footage I could have shot. So obviously, I made some choices. It’s only about seven or eight months into the editing that a film starts to emerge.

Your films are renowned for their nonjudgmental approach. Is it hard to keep your own opinions out of the picture when making these films?
My opinion is always expressed indirectly through structure. I hate didactic movies, or didactic novels, or didactic plays and poems. Which isn’t to say my films don’t have a point of view, because they do. The movie represents my point of view towards the subject matter. Now, if I could express my point of view in 25 words or less, I shouldn’t be making the movie.

People say that we’re living in a time of resurgence for documentaries, but it seems to us that most of the documentaries coming out are designed to prove some political point.
Yes, they’re ideological movies. They have a political point of attack. They’re very different from what I’m doing. What’s taking place in documentaries doesn’t interest me at all. I’ve found that things are more complicated than even I assume they are when I start. And I hate the idea of simplifying material for political purpose.

Is it easier for you to make films now that documentaries are financially viable?
It’s harder now to raise the money than it was 25 years ago; there are more people making movies, and they’re more expensive. I make a living by trying to make one movie a year, by owning the rights to all my movies, and by giving the occasional talk at colleges. Sometimes I make more money talking about movies than I do making them!

Your depiction of different social institutions seems to have found its unlikely reflection in some reality TV. What’s your take on that?
To be honest with you, I never watch TV. The only thing I ever watch is sports, so I can’t really comment on it. But I guess the fact that I don’t watch TV is kind of a comment in itself.

FUENTES:

• Film Reference. Frederick Wiseman. http://www.filmreference.com/Directors-Ve-Y/Wiseman-Frederick.html
• Doc Films. Winter Calendar 2009. http://docfilms.uchicago.edu/docfilms/02_calendar/2009-01.shtml
• New York Entertainment. Frederick Wiseman. http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/02/documentarian_frederick_wisema.html