Circle of Power

Circle of Power, also known as Mystique, Brainwash and The Naked Weekend, is a 1981 film, co-produced by Gary Mehlman, Anthony Quinn and Jeffrey White, and based on the non-fiction book The Pit: A Group Encounter Defiled. It stars Yvette Mimieux in her final film performance.

Circle of Power
Executives embracing after participating in "Executive Development Training"
Directed byBobby Roth
Produced byGary Mehlman
Anthony Quinn
Jeffrey White
Written byBeth Sullivan (screenplay)
Gene Church (book)
Based on
The Pit: A Group Encounter Defiled
by
  • Gene Church
  • Conrad D. Carnes
StarringYvette Mimieux
Christopher Allport
Cindy Pickett
John Considine
Walter Olkewicz
Music byRichard Markowitz
CinematographyAffonso Beato
Edited byGail Yasunaga
Distributed byMedia Home Entertainment
Qui Productions
Televicine International
Release date
  • 1981 (1981)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Yvette Mimieux plays Bianca Ray, the chief executive of a giant corporation called "Mystique",[1] but the organization is also known as "Executive Development Training", or EDT.[2] Christopher Allport plays Jack Nilsson, a decent all-American young executive.[3][4]

Top management executives are required to spend a weekend with Bianca Ray at a hotel, where they are put under psychological pressure.[1] As a prerequisite to the training course, participants must sign a waiver giving the company the release to physically and psychologically abuse the individuals in the course.[3] The participants struggle with their shortcomings, such as obesity and alcoholism.[3] Another individual is a closet homosexual, and a fourth is a transvestite.[2] At one point in the film, the obese trainee is forced to eat trash and discarded food in front of the other seminar participants.[2] Eventually, the seminar executives and their wives lose their inhibitions later on in the "consciousness-raising" coursework.[5]

Cast
Actor Role
Yvette MimieuxBianca Ray
Christopher AllportJack Nilsson
Cindy PickettLyn Nilsson
John ConsidineJordan Carelli
Walter OlkewiczBuddy Gordon
Leo RossiChris Morris
Carmen ArgenzianoTony Annese

Reception

The film won a Dramatic Films Award at the 1982 Sundance Film Festival.[6] Circle of Power played under the title Mystique at the 1981 Chicago International Film Festival.[1]

A review in The New York Times described Circle of Power as an "attack on monolithic belief systems," and referred to it as "a worthwhile movie."[3] Roger Ebert gave the film three stars, writing that "...it's an entertaining film with serious intentions."[1] Ebert compared it to events reported in Boston newspapers about a man who died during a seminar, commenting: "Art anticipates life."[1] Ebert questioned the conceit of the film, asking the question: "Could a major corporation get away with this brainwashing?"[1] The authors of the book upon which the film was based concluded their preface by stating: "And please remember as you read -- it's true."[7]

See also

References
  1. Ebert, Roger (1983-09-28). "Naked Weekend / Mystique". Chicago Sun-Times.
  2. Erickson, Hal., Brainwash , Overview, Allmovie, retrieved 4/20/2007.
  3. Van Gelder, Lawrence (March 2, 1984). "Screen: Corporate Pressure". The New York Times.
  4. "Circle of Power (1981) Directed by Bobby Roth". LETTERBOXD. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  5. Staff (June 2, 1984). "Showtime: Circle of Power". The Chronicle Telegram, Elyria, Ohio.
  6. Brainwash, Dramatic Films, 1982, Sundance Film Festival, Allmovie, Archived 2006-04-26 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Church, Gene; Conrad D. Carnes (1972). The Pit: A Group Encounter Defiled. New York: Outerbridge & Lazard, Inc. p. 161. ISBN 0-87690-087-2.
Reviews
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.