''Circle of Power'', also known as ''Mystique'', ''Brainwash'' and ''The Naked Weekend'', is a 1981 film, co-produced by Gary Mehlman,

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental ...

and

Jeffrey White Jeffrey Steven White (born September 2, 1945) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Early life, education, and career Born in New York City, New York, White receiv ...

, and based on the non-fiction book '' The Pit: A Group Encounter Defiled''. It stars Yvette Mimieux in one of her final film performances.

Plot

Yvette Mimieux plays Bianca Ray, the chief executive of a giant corporation called "Mystique", but the organization is also known as "Executive Development Training", or EDT.Erickson, Hal.
''Brainwash''
, Overview, Allmovie, retrieved 4/20/2007. Christopher Allport plays Jack Nilsson, a decent all-American young executive. Top management executives are required to spend a weekend with Bianca Ray at a hotel, where they are put under psychological pressure. 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. The participants struggle with their shortcomings, such as

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's ...

and

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

. Another individual is a closet homosexual, and a fourth is a

transvestite Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional, or ceremonial reasons. The term is considered outdated in Western ...

. At one point in the film, the obese trainee is forced to eat trash and discarded food in front of the other seminar participants. Eventually, the seminar executives and their wives lose their inhibitions later on in the "consciousness-raising" coursework.

Cast

* Yvette Mimieux as Bianca Ray * Christopher Allport as Jack Nilsson * Cindy Pickett as Lyn Nilsson * John Considine as Jordan Carelli *

Walter Olkewicz Walter Olkewicz (May 14, 1948 – April 6, 2021) was an American character actor. He played Marko in the short-lived TV series ''Wizards and Warriors'' and Coach Wordman in the feature film '' Making the Grade''. Biography Olkewicz was born in B ...

as Buddy Gordon * Leo Rossi as Chris Morris * Carmen Argenziano as Tony Annese

Reception

The film won a Dramatic Films Award at the 1982

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

.''Brainwash'', Dramatic Films, 1982,

, Allmovie

''Circle of Power'' played under the title ''Mystique'' at the 1981

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the compo ...

. A review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' described ''Circle of Power'' as an "attack on monolithic belief systems," and referred to it as "a worthwhile movie."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

gave the film three out of four stars, writing that "...it's an entertaining film with serious intentions." Ebert compared it to events reported in Boston newspapers about a man who died during a seminar, commenting: "Art anticipates life." Ebert questioned the

conceit An extended metaphor, also known as a conceit or sustained metaphor, is the use of a single metaphor or analogy at length in a work of literature. It differs from a mere metaphor in its length, and in having more than one single point of contact be ...

of the film, asking the question: "Could a major corporation get away with this brainwashing?" 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."

References

External links

;Reviews
Review
''Stomp Tokyo'' * * {{Bobby Roth 1981 films American drama films Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Bobby Roth Films scored by Richard Markowitz 1980s English-language films 1980s American films

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links