4. The Persecution And Assassination Of Jean-Paul Marat As Performed By The Inmates Of The Asylum Of Charenton Under The Direction Of The Marquis De Sade (1966)
What The...? Based on a play of the same name, and mercifully shortened most of the time to Marat/Sade, this is Peter Brook's adaptation of his own production of Peter Weiss' play, taking in revolution, power and the vulnerability of the human condition. The film takes a play within a play format, focusing on a performance by inmates of a play about the assassination of Jean-Paul Marat, an incendiary revolutionary, written by the Marquis De Sade, another inmate. The narrative is merely a vehicle for some intensive Revolutionary discussion, which eventually evolves into outright revolution on the stage.
Is It Any Good? It's certainly provocative, and it's generally critically lauded (though not at its time of release, as the director was accused of , but the film is too aggressive to be enjoyable, and it's hard to ignore the feeling that you're being told that what you're watching is terribly important and clever.
3. Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You In The Closet And I'm Feelin' So Sad (1967)
What The...? Never has a movie title sounded so much like a genuine country music song title. The plot of his utterly forgettable but utterly bonkers farce follows an over-bearing mother and her son, who find themselves pulled into a world of love, murder and family. Like Weekend At Bernie's, Madame Rosepettle (Rosalind Russell) and 25-year-old Jonathan (Robert Morse) take the dead man of the house on a Caribbean holiday: she is completely controlling, and her son is a wet blanket, despite the best efforts of the hotel babysitter, who tries to seduce him.
Is It Any Good? Everything devolves into a silly mess as more characters and plot threads are introduced, and it's not exactly easy to follow, nor particularly rewarding for the effort.