End of the Road (1970)

Directed by

Aram Avakian

Genre

drama film, comedy film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 50m

Rating

5.1 of 10 from 8 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A man becomes catatonic and is treated at an unconventional mental institution by an eccentric doctor. After leaving, he takes a teaching job and has an affair with a colleague's wife that leads to disaster.

satiricalbleakunsettlingcerebraldarkly comicprovocativesurreal

What happens

End of the Road is a 1970 American satirical black comedy drama film directed, co-written, and edited by Aram Avakian and adapted from a 1958 novel by John Barth, and stars Stacy Keach, James Earl Jones and Harris Yulin. The film follows Jacob Horner, a man who has a catatonic episode and is taken to "The Farm", an unconventional mental institution run by the eccentric Doctor D. After being cured, Jacob takes a job as an English lecturer and begins a disastrous affair with Rennie Morgan, the wife of his colleague Joe. The film was given an X rating for a detailed abortion scene and a scene where a man has sex with a chicken. The film won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival. Despite a mixed critical reaction at the time of its release, the film acquired a cult following at art movie houses across the U.S. In 2012, it was released on DVD as part of the Warner Archive Collection. The revival was spearheaded by director Steven Soderbergh, who made the companion documentary, An Amazing Time: A Conversation About the End of the Road, for the DVD release. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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