"Les maîtres fous" is as you probably guessed correctly from the title already a French French-language documentary from 1955, so this one is from over 60 years ago already and the man who made this is Jean Rouch for whom this was an early, but not very early career effort. Apparently there exist several versions of this one, but the 36-minute version listed on IMDb is one I couldn't find anywhere. All I found was a few minutes short of the half-hour mark, but honestly this is also enough given the material in here, which was bizarre and strange yes, also if we compare what we see in here (an African tribe) to what the narrator tells at times. This surely isn't a purely informative piece we got here. I would agree with those saying it is a mockumentary, even if there is certainly a great deal of truth and social commentary perhaps too attached to this project. I am kinda surprised to see how well-known this film still is today and I can only attribute it to the absurdity of it all. To me, it looks like one that would not really attract the masses. Anyway, I personally did not particularly enjoy the film and my suggestion is that it may be best to skip. Doesn't say really anything positive in my opinion if this is a contender for Rouch's most famous. Don't watch "The Mad Masters".
Review of The Mad Masters
