Herostratus is a 1967 British experimental psychological 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.

Clio (Gabriella Licudi), an attractive woman who is Farson's secretary, aids Max in his goals.

Eventually Max stops the music and picks up an axe, using it to destroy the furnishing and the decorations in the room in a manic rage.

Still brandishing the axe and threatening a number of passers-by as he walks through the streets to reach offices for "Farson Advertising".

Here he meets Clio, who is acting as a receptionist for Farson, and declares to her that he has the greatest advertising opportunity in the world.

Clio does not agree to let Max in and so he continues to harass her, eventually grabbing a phone from her desk and calling Farson directly.

Afterwards Max expresses his desire to look after Clio and protect her and tells her that he is feeling much happier with his place in life.

As Max prepares to jump from the roof the worker pulls him away from the edge, and attempts to wrestle him to the ground.

At the same time Clio runs from Farson, distraught since she believes that her actions have led to Max killing himself.

[5] Throughout the film, similar scenes and repeated motifs like the manipulation of colour continue to symbolise and represent the constructed nature of advertising to the audience, and highlight what Street described as Levy's "profound distrust" of the advertising industry.

The other people that rent alongside Max further represent portions of the working class in an increasingly urbanised society.

Further, Max and those that rent alongside him have been interpreted as a representation of many of the concepts that the Greater London Council was working against in the 1960s as it attempted to push for ‘slum clearance’ and ‘urban renewal’ as the population of the city drastically changed over the decade.

Herostratus is told in an experimental style, with significant cuts between the loosely followed plot and other sequences.

The film extensively features poetry readings by Allen Ginsberg, footage of cattle being slaughtered and processed, and a recurrent striptease scene intercut with the interactions between Max, Farson, and Clio.

It additionally contains footage from a number of historical events, most representing the impacts of World War II or the post-war urban decay in London.

Other aspects such as the colours of individual scenes[5][8] have been identified as working to highlight the emotional impact of the film.

[3][11] Don Levy was inspired by the Greek historical figure Herostratus,[5] and developed the idea for the film in 1962 from this legend and a story written by Alan Daiches whilst a post-graduate student at the Slade School of Fine Art under the supervision of Thorold Dickinson.

[8] Levy spent a considerable amount of time running potential actors through improvisational auditions, and eventually selected Michael Gothard, Gabriella Licudi and Peter Stephens for the lead roles.

[8] Throughout the filming Levy directed the characterisation and dialogue through what he described as "a very complicated process of improvisation and recall", with the goal of "enveloping the characters of the play".

[8] He used these techniques in an attempt to bring forwards the subconscious feelings of the actors and create a heightened emotional state in them that extended to the audience,[5][8][11] in a process he described as a form of "experimental psychology".

A review in The Boston Globe describes it as "a joy to see", and "beautifully crafted in terms of precision and skill",[12] and while one from the Los Angeles Times does criticise the film's "long 145-minute" runtime as "a taxing workout" it also praises Levy's "utterly inspired, exhaustive use of the camera's resources to allow us to experience the emotions of his tortured hero".