Titticut Follies is set in Bridgewater State Hospital for the criminally insane, a term we don't use any more as it's not PC... it was directed by Frederick Wiseman and filmed by John Marshall.
Before it was shown, Massachusetts tried and won an injunction to stop it being shown on grounds 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) it was on very shaky ground legally.
It was pulled from distribution by the Judge and for years could only be seen by doctors, lawyers, judges, health-care professionals, social workers, and students in these and related fields.
It's not quite what I expected. Filmed in stark black and white with the echos of madness present on the soundtrack, it makes for uncomfortable but not shocking, viewing. There is a lot of verbal abuse, threats of violence and intimidation by the guards, forced feeding and general neglect of duty. The lack of any dignity and respect is appalling, not only to the patients involved but to their families as well. One scene that sticks in my mind is of a guard feeding a patient with a fag hanging out of his mouth and the ash falling into his gruel, the guard doesn't miss a beat as he spoons it into the patients mouth.
It is a damning expose of institutions in the 1960's and an important document in its own right. Personally I don't believe it is exploitive but others would argue otherwise with perhaps pertinent issues. Still very difficult to get hold off and not cheap when you do.
You can get it here;
Zipporah Films Titicut Follies