The Farm Angola Analysis

The medium of film is often a great place to depict many facets of American society. This fact is sometimes validated by the depiction of the criminal justice system. While scripted film are often examples of this, documentary films provide a realistic platform. In the 1998 film “The Farm: Angola, USA,” this is shown. Through the work of director/producers Liz Garbus, Wilbert Rideau, and Jonathan Stack, it shows an in-depth look into Americas largest maximum-security prison. I first discovered the film in 2013, but for the purposes of this assignment I rewatched it via YouTube this week. The film can be found at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odx9NEHc17M.

The film shows the stories of men imprisoned at Louisiana State Penitentiary. Often refereed to the as “The Farm at Angola,” or simply “Angola,” the prison is home to over 6,000 male inmates. Once a slave plantation, this 18,000-acre farm is the largest maximum-security prison the in United States. Over 70 percent of Angola’s inmates are serving life sentences. During the 88 minute journey, the stories of John Brown, George Crawford, Wilbert Rideau, Eugene Tanniehill, Vincent Simmons, Logan Theriot, and Ashanti Witherspoon are told. While each mans story is very different, the film represents the reality of life in a maximum-security prison.

Through the multiple of characters, many different attitudes towards this medium are shown. For example, both George Crawford and Vincent Simmons are men fighting to prove their innocents. On the other hand, Eugene Tanniehill and Ashanti Witherspoon have come to grips with their actions and are strive to become better individuals through the correctional system. The various attitudes of the men relay the idea that the correctional sector can be viewed as good or bad depending on ones