Herostratus (film)

Herostratus is a 1967 British experimental drama film directed and produced by Don Levy, with the assistance of James Quinn. The film follows a young poet named Max (Michael Gothard), who out of ennui and a desire for fame arranges with the marketer Farson (Peter Stephens) to commit suicide in public. Farson agrees to turn his suicide into a high-profile media spectacle, and introduces him to Clio (Gabriella Licudi), an attractive woman who aids him in his goals. The film also stars Antony Paul and Mona Hammond (credited as Mona Chin), as well as Helen Mirren in her first credited film role.

The film's initial release was limited to film festivals and art house cinemas in Europe, and it did not have a wider cinematic release. In 2009 the film was re-released by the British Film Institute as part of the BFI Flipside series. Both initial reception of the film and the reception at the time of its re-release were heavily mixed, and while many critics had more favourable responses to the film, the public response was generally more negative.

The film critiques consumerism and the advertising industry of the time, whilst also featuring themes of death, urbanization, and the growing countercultural movement of the time. Levy used a number of unorthodox directing techniques in the creation of the film with the aim of heightening the film's emotional impact, some of which greatly distressed other members of the film crew.