AllMovie

The Brig is a literal filmization of the 1964 Living Theater presentation written by Ken Brown. The play is set in a Marine Corps prison, with tense facial expressions and sudden outbursts of brutality supplanting dialogue for most part. Ken Brown traces the degeneration of one prisoner (Warren Finnerty) from a normal human being to little more than an animal. Shot in one single night with a hand-held camera, The Brig won the "best documentary" award at Venice Film Festival. The 120-minute version proved impossible for most mainstream audiences to endure; current prints run 57 minutes.