Watch Coming Apart

Coming Apart is a 1969 film directed by Milton Moses Ginsberg, starring Rip Torn, Sally Kirkland, and Robert Blankshine. The movie is a psychological exploration of the life of an affluent psychiatrist who secretly films his sexual encounters with various women in his apartment, documenting his own descent into madness and obsession.

The film takes place entirely within the confines of the psychiatrist's apartment, which serves as both his workplace and his own personal prison. The camera follows him as he interacts with a series of women who respond to an ad he has placed seeking subjects for his "sex documentary." The women are a diverse group, ranging from a high-spirited hippie played by Kirkland to a timid housewife, a college student, and a prostitute.

As the film progresses, we witness the psychiatrist's increasingly unstable behavior as he becomes increasingly obsessed with his subjects. He spirals into a hallucinatory state, becoming more and more disconnected from reality as his moods swing wildly between mania and despair.

Throughout the movie, the psychiatrist maintains an outwardly calm demeanor, but his inner turmoil is palpable. His psychology practice suffers as a result of his erratic behavior, and eventually, his marriage falls apart. The psychiatrist continues to obsessively record his encounters with the women, despite the mounting consequences.

The film is unflinching in its portrayal of the psychiatrist's voyeuristic tendencies, and Ginsberg employs innovative techniques to convey his character's mental breakdown, including a fragmented editing style and a stark, black-and-white visual aesthetic. The movie's minimalist setting and reliance on dialogue, often improvised by the actors themselves, give it an almost documentary-like feel.

At its core, Coming Apart is a meditation on the potentially destructive consequences of sexual obsession and the dangerous allure of voyeurism. The film's frank depiction of sex and mental illness, as well as its sympathy for characters who are often considered degenerate or morally bankrupt, makes it a thought-provoking and challenging work of art.

While Coming Apart was met with mixed reviews upon its initial release, it has since achieved cult status as a defining work of the 1960s counterculture. The film stands as a testament to Ginsberg's singular vision as a filmmaker and to the boldness of his creative experimentation. It is a gritty, uncompromising movie that presents a complex portrait of one man's descent into madness and is well worth watching for those interested in the history of American independent cinema.

Coming Apart is a 1969 drama with a runtime of 1 hour and 52 minutes. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 6.6.