The Committee is a 1968 British independent black-and-white film noir film directed by Peter Sykes. It features original music by Pink Floyd as well as Arthur Brown's song "Nightmare".

Plot

The movie begins with the unnamed male protagonist in a car with a driver. The driver attempts conversation with the protagonist before deciding to pull over as he believes the engine is malfunctioning. While he is inspecting the engine, the protagonist slams the bonnet down on his head several times, eventually decapitating him. The protagonist then sews the head back on after which the driver wakes up. The protagonist tells the driver to leave without him. A few years later the protagonist is called on to be part of The Committee, a group that allegedly keeps society functioning but really do very little. The Committee consists of 300 people who meet at a country estate where they swim, play tennis and sail boats during non-working hours; they host a dance with a live performance by Arthur Brown one evening. The protagonist becomes paranoid that the committee was called on account of him. He also encounters the driver of the car while at the estate but the man does not remember him. The central character then discusses all of this with The Committee's director for the duration of the movie; this sequence and features most of the music Pink Floyd wrote for the film. At the end of The Committee's weekend retreat the protagonist meets a young woman while checking out and helps carry her bags to her car. She offers him a ride and they drive off. She asks him if he plays bridge, but he does not answer her and the film ends.

Cast

Soundtrack

Titles taken from A Tree Full of Secrets bootleg. "The Committee (Part 1 backwards version)" is the original recording, which was reversed for the film. "The Committee (Part 7)" is an early recording of "Careful with That Axe, Eugene". The soundtrack is also on other bootlegs that are just called The Committee. It also has the Arthur Brown track. "Prelude-Nightmare". It has been often misquoted that his song "Fire" is in the film. The confusion is possibly due to the fact that he wears the same "flaming head-gear" that he used in the Fire footage, often seen on TV.

Release

The Committee has only been released once on DVD coupled with a CD Single with Paul Jones' title track "The Committee" in 2005, and later in remastered format on Blu-ray, as part of the 2016 Pink Floyd box set The Early Years 1965–1972.