Such a frustrating disappointment

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

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

This is an early documentary of Albert Maysles, one of the brothers known for Salesmen and Gimme Shelter. It is a short (13 minute) introduction to psychiatric practice and mental hospitals in the Soviet Union, and what is most striking about it is the way the Soviets were already doing practically everything that emerged later in US psychiatry--emphasizing the physical causes of mental illness, treating it with medication, trying to keep hospital stays short, and rejecting Freudian psychoanalysis as a causal theory. Also interesting and advanced is the large percentage of women doctors. The filmmaker's view of psychiatry in the Soviet Union is positive, respectful, and down to earth--Soviet physicians care about their patients and treat them with warmth and dignity; their diagnoses and treatments are effective and pragmatic, aimed at getting patients to be able to leave the hospital and function in everyday life.

Psychiatry in Russia (1955) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Albert Maysles produced, wrote and directed this 14 minute short that takes a look at the mental hospitals in Russia. We're told that the director was given access to twelve different hospitals where he was able to film what was going on in regards to mental treatment including that for syphilis. PSYCHIATRY IN Russia isn't the greatest film ever made and it's certainly no where near the director's best but if you're a fan of Maysles then this will be interesting to you simply because it was the first film he directed. There's some nice cinematography to be found here but overall there's no doubt that this falls well short of being good. With that said, there are some interesting scenes discussing what happens at the hospitals but I must admit that the majority of the film just drags thanks in large part to some narration that is just way too dry for its own good.