Every Little Thing

Several years prior to his international breakthrough with To Be and To Have, French filmmaker Nicolas Philibert helmed this documentary on the La Borde Psychiatric Clinic, a mental institution in Cour-Cheverny, France with some highly unusual procedures. The staff members do not wear uniforms, making it nearly impossible to distinguish between workers and patients; moreover, the residents, physicians and aides routinely pool their talents to mount a series of theatrical performances every summer. Shot in 1995, this film observes the preparations leading up to that year's production of Polish writer Witold Gombrowicz's comedic play +Operetta. Philibert uses the events (and the ambiguity of determining who is and isn't a resident) for a prolonged meditation on the often blurred line between madness and sanity; more broadly, the detached observations make a strong case for the offbeat approach to treatment at La Borde, forcing the audience to reassess their beliefs about what does and doesn't constitute "normal" behavior.