Esquizo (1970)

Esquizo (1970) takes place in a psychiatric hospital. A mental patient (Serena Vergano) is escorted into an operation theatre, where electrodes are hooked onto her scalp. Doctors dissect her brain and we enter the brain with a loud, jarring shriek. In this space detached from reality, a group of actors (Vergano, José Luis Argüello, Modesto Fernández, Jesús Sastre) perform elaborate interpretive dances. They leap about, land on top of each other, place their hands on their bodies, and form various shapes. All the while, an incoherent voice-over repeats syllables and reminds the patient that she is ill. The imagery interchanges between footage of mental patients in a dark room babbling incoherently, a game of dollar bill poker played in the sand, animal carcasses falling into a shredding machine, and the dancers performing aggressive gestures towards the camera. At the end of the film, we exit the brain. The patient returns to her cell. A lengthy text appears on the screen talking about how, with the frequent advances in technology, Man has become the new God.