The Committee (1968)

To grasp where this film is coming from I guess you'd have to read the short story by Max Steuer (originally a dream) on which it is based. It plays as a bargain basement melange of Robbe-Grillet and Kafka, with the attention immediately grabbed by the arresting title sequence juggling mug-shots of the three main protagonists to a sinister blurping accompaniment on the soundtrack; but which is soon allowed to dissipate by what follows. For a film that begins with the central figure decapitating a total stranger on a whim, 'The Committee' is an incongruously well-mannered, very British affair - albeit with hip sixties trimmings in the form of a soundtrack by Pink Floyd and a personal appearance by Arthur Brown.Ian Wilson's cool black & white photography is presumably intended to evoke 'L'Année Dernière à Marienbad', and as in 'Marienbad' there's a lot of talk but very little actually said. The plush backdrop is here provided by the London School of Economics, where Steuer - author of 'The Scientific Study of Society' (2003) has been ensconced in the philosophy department since 1959, and was at the time of the making of 'The Committee' a lecturer in economics and social sciences. The endless gnomic prattle may be a joke at the expense of his colleagues there.

Brief, surreal, enigmatic British film from the late 60's. It opens with a man killing another in a car for seemingly no reason(think Albert Camus existential murder tale "The Stranger"), only to then sew it back on, to find the man is appalled but otherwise fine. The second half of the film involves, people from all over the country being summoned to spend a weekend as part of a "committee", where the man who decapitated his fellow traveler earlier, is also summoned. Everyone wonders, but no one bothers to question the committee, after all it's a free weekend getaway, and they are told they will make very important decisions. Our hero is lead away from the party which features performances by psychedelic wild man Arthur Brown of (The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, seen on cover here), by an even more enigmatic stranger who proceeds to explain to him, in a 20 minute conversation, the nature of individuality and community, freedom and order, impulse and the nature of the committee. The conversation is really the cornerstone of the film (the screen-writer who became an economist after the lack of success with this film, likens it to The Matrix in reverse, and he's not far off. The conversation scene is also parodied in the climax of Grant Morisson's "Animal Man").Anyway it's a mysterious film for fans of mysterious, philosophically dense movies(it's hour time line keeps the movie from treading into boredom). The most disappointing aspect of this film is actually the Pink Floyd soundtrack, which is good, but not nearly as good as fans of the original band(Syd Barret days) will imagine it must be. A good movie, all but lost to the common man before the days of Netflix. If you like political, psychological, and philosophically challenging films, and "wierd tales", than this is not to be missed

Though this one may never fully see the dark of a cinema, I managed to see a copy; and have heard it was shown in a Rock and Roll Film Festival a few years ago on the west coast.**SPOILER** B&W Story takes place in a modish alternate sixties, and involves an aloof and quietly cocky young draftsman/architect (nod to the abdabs?) who inexplicably murders a driver (who while annoying was not deserving) who picks him up while hitch-hiking. Shortly afterwards he is invited to a meeting in the country with other young English men and women. The committee is to meet at some grand country estate and supposedly not uncommon in this world (like a think tank/spa) but he begins to feel that the committee exists to examine him and his deeds. There is some good existentialist and almost classical student mentor discourses between a slightly older mod! moderator and protagonist.Also some party scenes with drinking, mini-skirts, a performance by Arthur Brown with his band and fire breathing. And of course...A couple of minutes of great little Pink Floyd instrumental fills, which are available on bootlegs for the resourceful to find.Keep looking!

Wow! It is doubtful that many people will get a chance to see this wonderful film, which is a shame. Lush, brief, darkly funny and psychedelic, this film ruminates about the existential nature of being, albeit in a meandering late 60's kinda way. Nice to not be led around by the hand, narratively speaking.... Paul Jones (Manfred Mann) is great, and there is an amazing cameo by Arthur Brown (the Crazy World of), and, of course, the soundtrack by The Pink Floyd - I think I may have glimpsed Roger Waters in the party scene, too.