Welfare
Year: 1975
Running time: 167 mins
Producer: Frederick Wiseman
Photography: William Brayne
Editors: Frederick Wiseman, Oliver Kool
With: The Staff and Clients of a New York City Welfare Centre
R16
Festivals: London 1975
“Frederick Wiseman's extraordinary new documentary is not only one of his most revealing to date but one that should be of a particular concern in a country with rising unemployment.
Welfare analyses the nature and shows the complexity of going on the dole in America through a close-up examination of the workings of a large welfare centre in New York City. During its 167 minutes we see the problems of both staff and clients as the jobless, the homeless, the hungry, the elderly and the unfit seek assistance from the state. Like Wiseman's other documentaries,
Welfare is an inside look at one of the key institutions around which society functions and like his other films it is profoundly disturbing, especially for those with preconceptions. Wiseman's method is not to interpret but to assist the viewer to interpret himself through seeing the essential workings of an institution. The essential elements around which a welfare organisation appears to revolve is bureaucracy. Never mind that many of the clients are difficult, emotional and deceitful for the bureaucratic armour of the welfare centre staff is proof against a complex web of Catch 22 regulations that can defeat even the strongest and cleverest. As we watch a number of cases progress, our understanding grows until at the end of the film we become almost shocked at staff behaviour. An amazing film.” — Ken Wlaschin, London Film Festival, 1975
