“The Committee is directed by Peter Sykes and based on a chilling fable by Max Steuer. Although discernably influenced by Harold Pinter, R.D.Laing and recent Czech movies, the film has a savage narrative life of its own.”
The Observer, 9 June 1968

The Committee, starring Paul Jones of Manfred Mann fame, is a unique document of Britain in the 1960s. After a very successful run in London’s West End in 1968, viewings of this controversial movie have been few and far between. At last, a DVD release makes available a film that was strongly praised by the distinguished critic Kenneth Tynan. Stunning black and white camera work by Ian Wilson brings to life this “chilling fable” by Max Steuer, a lecturer (now Reader Emeritus) at the London School of Economics.

Avoiding easy answers, The Committee uses a surreal murder to explore the tension and conflict between bureaucracy on one side, and individual freedom on the other. Many films, such as Total Recall, Fahrenheit 451 and Camus’ The Stranger, see the state as ignorant and repressive, and pass over the inevitable weaknesses lying deep in individuals. Drawing on the ideas of R.D. Laing, a psychologically hip state faces an all too human protagonist.

Both the style and the content of this film capture the feel of the sixties, yet it has potentially greater relevance now than when it was made. More than in the past, hidden committees, be they in democracies or otherwise, determine much of life today.

The acting of Paul Jones and National Theatre actors Tom Kempinski and Robert Lloyd ably supports intelligent and imaginative directing by Peter Sykes. This is visual artistry of a high level. Peter Brook, the famous theatre director, applauded the technical achievement of combining diverse acting traditions to tell a dark and challenging tale.

The musical score, written and performed by the Pink Floyd, is some of the most intellectual music the Pink Floyd have produced, according to music writer David King. This is music that has never been released before. Along with the Pink Floyd, and also enhancing the mood of the film, Arthur Brown performs his worldwide hit Fire. Few will note that his flaming headdress echoes the homey fireside of the Fabians Beatrice and Sidney Webb. But the touch of evil in the performance is unmistakeable.

It is not easy to absorb this dense story, inspired by lines from the economist Joseph Schumpeter. The DVD contains a lengthy interview with Max Steuer and Peter Sykes which provides a helpful exposition. The interviewer, Jon Blair, a distinguished, Oscar-winning documentary maker and founder of Spitting Image, takes the viewer behind the scenes both in terms of the ideas that motivate the film, and the practical, and often hilarious problems of independent filmmaking.

The DVD includes a CD of a re-recording of the Steuer/Jones song The Committee, arranged for the jazz-classical fusion group the Homemade Orchestra by the outstanding saxophonist Tim Whitehead especially for this re-release. The CD also includes two tracks from earlier Whitehead/Riley Homemade Orchestra CDs.

Spare Bricks (full interview with producer Max Steuer)