Over at our official Facebook page, we are currently posting daily film recommendations, with each week being a different theme. This is a collection of those recommendations! This week's theme is prison films.
Prisons provide an interesting settings for films for a variety of reasons, as the claustrophobic and closed in settings cause tight restrictions in terms of characters and storytelling. Prisoners are always restricted in their actions and are usually criminals, a type of character that is hard to make sympathetic and likeable to a mainstream audience. This leads to a common trope in prison films of the main character being an innocent man who is falsely imprisoned, or a charismatic rebel, which can be seen in some of the best known prison films such as The Shawshank Redemption, Cool Hand Luke and Bronson. Here is just a selection of some of the more underrated prison films that are worth watching.
1. A Man Escaped (1956, Robert Bresson)
source: Gaumont Film Company
source: Gaumont Film Company
Robert Bresson was one of the major figures in the French New Wave cinematic movement, a minimalist filmmaker who used non-actors, minimal use of soundtrack and a progressive use of editing in creating his classic films. Fellow French New Wave director Jean-Luc Goddard stated "Robert Bresson is [to] French
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cinema, as Dostoevsky is the Russian novel and Mozart is German music." Even when dealing with genre pictures, Bresson managed to develop them into his own distinctive style. A Man Escaped is a prison film which focuses on the mentality of the protagonist rather than the typical action film tropes associated with many other prison movies. Other genre pictures that Bresson shifted expectations with include the crime picture Pickpocket and the coming of age story in Mouchette. Set during World War 2, French Resistance fighter Fontaine (François Leterrier) is captured and sent to a stark Nazi prison where we awaits a death sentence. He's left to starve and mostly ignored by the Nazi guards, as he slowly wastes away. He decides to devise a plan to escape, which involves a late night escape attempt using hand-made rope and materials taken from various Nazi guards. Fontaine's plan is on track until a mysterious prisoner is forced to live in the same cell as him. Whilst the prisoner states he is another resistance fighter who was captured, Fontaine's growing fear of being captured and heightened paranoia has him thinking the prisoner could possibly be an undercover agent planted by the German guards planted to thwart his escape plan. This leaves Fontaine with a dilemma - trust the prisoner and have him escape with him or kill the prisoner and go alone. A Man Escaped demonstrates Bresson's understated ability to build suspense without the use of manipulative music or contrived screenwriting. Bresson's command of cinematic language is frequently present throughout A Man Escaped, such as the claustrophobic cinematography, François Leterrier's dread-filled central performance and the sporadic use of score in key moments, this film is an essential arthouse title for any students of film and one of the best in Bresson's filmography. 2. Cell 211 (2009, Daniel Monzón) source: IFC Films source: IFC Films Rookie Prison guard Juan Oliver (Alberto Ammann) is accidentally left inside a prison cell when a full scale riot goes down. In order to stay alive, he poses as a prisoner and slowly starts to become friendly with the head of the riot, Malamadre (Luis Tosar), whilst some of the other prisoners start to suspect something is off with this new prisoner. With Juan’s pregnant wife waiting for him on the outside, the media circling around the riot and Malamadre having to constantly assert power, Juan must fight to stay alive. It’s a great premise and Monzón directs it really well, slowly tightening the tension and building the suspense as Juan has to keep covering his tracks and keeping us his prisoner facade in order to stay alive. Some of the action scenes within the prison are quite brutal and the film heightens the realistic aspects of the film, without revelling in the brutality or gore of the scenes. The film is quite a bleak adventure, which avoids the tropes of usual Hollywood films. Overall, the film is quite solid, from the acting, cinematography and ability to keep the audience engaged throughout. 3. Brute Force (1947, Jules Dassin) source: Universal Pictures source: Universal Pictures Those who recently watched the Oscar nominated Trumbo were reminded of just how terrible the Hollywood blacklist era was and how harmful it was to the career’s of hundreds of people within the Hollywood bubble and beyond. Jules Dassin was an American genre director who was unfairly targeted by the blacklisting witch-hunt which forced him to move to France, a move which inadvertently flourished his career and made him the classic arthouse director he is remembered as today. His most famous films include the hugely influential bank heist film Rififi, realistic police drama The Naked City and the bleak crime film Night and the City, which was later remade in the 90’s with Robert De Niro. After being released from solitary confinement, Joe Collins (Burt Lancaster) finds out that his wife has turned down surgery for her deadly cancer, only choosing to go through with it if Joe can be by her side. This triggers Joe to desperately trying to get out of jail, where he plans a violent plan with fellow prisoner Gallagher (Charles Bickford). By chance, other prisoners start a violent out of control riot that takes over the entire prison, which gives Joe his chance to try and finally escape the joint. In a time when prison films were churned out, which were usually underdog stories where good-hearted prisoners were put in awful scenarios and succeeded, Brute Force flipped this on its head with its bleak tale of oppression and addressing the role of violence in society. Whilst the film is anchored by Burt Lancaster, one of the big roles which launched him into mainstream fame, the film features an impressive cast of characters who are given their own personalities and histories, Dassin's attempt to humanise these prisoners. The film's stark black and white imagery, intelligent screenplay and surprising use of violence makes Brute Force one of the defining prison films, one which would go onto become majorly influential to the prison film genre. 4. Birdman of Alcatraz (1962, John Frankenheimer) source: United Artists source: United Artists Another prison film starring Burt Lancaster, who plays an entirely different role than his violent rebel from Brute Force. Birdman of Alcatraz was one of the many collaborations between John Frankenheimer and Burt Lancaster, an electric duo whose collaborations rival the famous director/actor duos such as Scorsese/DeNiro and Kurosawa/Toshiro Mifune. Birdman of Alcatraz is a largely fictionalised take on the true tale of Robert Stroud, a peaceful inmate who cared for a variety of birds within his cell in Leavenworth Prison, but when moved to Alcatraz, was forced to get rid of them. Robert Stroud (Lancaster) is a young man who is imprisoned for murder, where he his youthful energy makes him a rebellious instrument within the prison, which constantly aggravates all the prison guards. When he finds out that his mother has been rejected a visit, Stroud flips out and accidentally kills a guard, which garners him a death sentence. After his mother successfully calls for a life in prison sentence instead, Stroud is forced into solitary confinement for the rest of his life. Growing increasingly isolated, he decides to help raise a young sparrow, which sparks a passion for birds, as his collection of bird slowly increases. This passion starts to sooth the ageing Stroud, highlighting his understated intelligent side and turns him into a model prisoner. The film was highly criticised due to its sympathetic portrayal of Robert Stroud, which clashed with many peoples personal reports who identified him as a violent psychopath, with some critics stating that Birdman of Alcatraz was a comedy rather than a drama due to how inaccurate it was.
Removing truthful backbone of the story, as its own fictional story the film is quite good. This was made when Frankenheimer was in his prime, one man who knew how to use black and white photography to full effect. The unusual subject matter is treated in an interesting manner, turning this true story into quite a unique prison film, one of the more eclectic ones on this
list.
In this documentary series, 30 Days: Jail, directed by Morgan Spurlock, Morgan questions whether the system is proper and effective, or whether they need to change and reform the system. The 30 Days: Jail is a true story, therefor the story is nonfiction. The details and events that transpire in this documentary series are facts. The 30 Days documentary film series are short films, which each episode last roughly thirty minutes long. Morgan Spurlock has filmed three seasons of the documentary series 30 Days. The reason why Morgan filmed these series of 30 Days was, because he wanted to put himself in other people’s shoes to show their life experiences and what they go through on a daily routine. Morgan is a writer and director, he has other works such as Supersize Me, Mansome.
I would like to point out the poignant cinematography, which was very innovative for its time. The narration and the filming introducing what was about to be uncovered must have been extremely moving in a melancholy way. The mise-en-scène is both compelling and haunting, each frame cleverly editied. Resnais experimented with what is known as the long shot, and the 360 degree shot, to make the voyeur very aware of the unbalanced composition. The panning of the film tracking back from Auschwitz brings us a close up, of barbed wire. This clearly suggests that this isn't what it appears to be. Resnais films the past in black and white, and the then present in colour. The ambiance is chilling, and the composed background music unique. Where normally dramatic loud music would be used to express the abonimation and enormity of the most horrendous scenes, Resnais did quite the contrary.
Within the film, prison culture illustrates the subculture within Shawshank State Prison. Prison culture and the Inmate Code dictate the typical rules and values that have emerged in prisons (Clear, 2006). The aggression of both prison guards and inmates, as well as the punishments and sanctions imposed for deviant behavior highlight the prison subculture. Throughout the film, the inmates showcase certain distinctive markers of the subculture that set the group apart from the dominant culture because they use cigarettes as currency, engage in violence, establish specific roles and identity, and share similar goals and values, such as
Inmates and correctional personnel have different views on how treatment should be carried out. In the film, Cool Hand Luke directed by Stuart Rosenberg, one is able to see the daily life of an inmate and the power of the authority over them (Carroll & Rosenberg, 1967). Cool Hand Luke displays the meaning of a prison film movie. According to Dr. Paul Mason, he defines this as “a film which concerns civil imprisonment and which is mainly set within the walls of a prison or uses prison as a central theme
In one particular scene, director was truly a great one, featuring special focus on his dad life and the Colorado River. It was so cool to highlights of the movie by one of his favorite poem written by his dad when he was born, the Important Place. Also, this film was a good length, not excessively long but long enough to tell the story. This is really important today there were no such unwanted scene in the film, which literary the most closely and accurately delivered. In my opinion, this film is forced to possess the characters of a great aspect, and turns to make for quite the adventurous. There was no special character encounter rather than his dad, learned something from the secret Colorado River. Another great aspect of the film was the special footage that were introduce in this film was an enjoyable aspect to be a good documentary film, and that’s how this film is different from the rest.
Prisons have dated back to the twentieth century when the United States had almost two million people confined in prisons or jails. Prisons have been a form of government punishment that has shaped our nation to what it is today. The first jail was established in Philadelphia, in 1970. It was called the Walnut Street Jail and was recorded as the first use of imprisonment through solitary confinement. The basic principles of the new system were to reform those in prison, and to segregate those according to age, sex, and type of offenses charged against them (Schoenherr). The second prison was called Sing-Sing a...
The correctional system is based on helping offenders become part of society and not commit any crimes. Many prisons begin the correcting criminals since they are inside the jails, but many prisons do not. Prisons provide prisoners with jobs inside the prison where they get very little pay close to nothing and many have programs that will help them advance their education or get their high school diploma. There are various programs prisons provide to prisoners to help them get a job or have a skill when they are released from prison. In contrast, prisons that do not provide programs or help to prisoners rehabilitate and enter society again will be more likely to commit another crime and go back to jail. The Shawshank Redemption prison did not
difficult relationships present that day in the prison, and emphasizing with detail on a few inmates
In the United States prison system inmate’s struggle and face conflicts within the culture, they live in on a daily basis. Prison life is very structured and within this system, there are multiple layers of racism, bigotry, and injustice. As a result of extreme conditions and the prison climate, many prisoners often experience stressful situations that influence their mental health. In addition to mental health issues, many prisoners often experience emotional, social, organizational, and arduous physical conditions while incarcerated. Due to these harsh conditions, further research is needed in our prison systems to evaluate the impact of our prison culture and the climate that these inmates are subjected to when incarcerated. Corporate
The idea of prison has been around for thousands of years and seems to be an integrated part of the human concept. We remove the people that disrupt society and we put them away or get rid of them. We, as a modern culture, want things to run smoothly. Getting in the way of that will cause individuals to be noticed and processed by the system.
In the media, prisons have always been depicted as a horrible place. The film, The Shawshank Redemption, is a prime example that supports the media 's suggestions about prison life. In the film we are familiarized with Andy Dufresne, who is a banker that is wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. While trying to both remain discreet and find his prison identity, he assists Ellis Boyd 'Red ' Redding, a peddler, and Brooks Hatlen. In his attempt to fit into the rough prison subculture, Andy strategically starts a business relationship with the captain Captain Bryon Hadley and Samuel Norton. The film gives an insider 's look at various aspects of prison life. These aspects include prison culture; explicitly, guard subculture and inmate subculture.
The mass media uses prison life as the source for movies and television shows. Over the years there have been many movies written about prison but the most prominent in my mind is Frank Darabont’s, The Shawshank Redemption. Throughout the film there are many examples of the falsities of prison life. There are some elements of truth but they are out weighed by the misconceptions. Numerous prisoners are allowed to walk around the prison and the prison yard with no guards in sight. In actuality there are always guards around, especially on the inside. The prisoner’s movement through the prison is highly restricted.
Some prisoners are claustrophobic; they can’t be in small tight places for example their prison cell. The prisoners were used to being on the streets doing whatever they felt they wanted to do; now they got to follow rules and do as they’re told. Inmates with life sentences have to stay in prison until they’re no longer alive, knowing that some even try to commit suicide. No one would like to be in prison for life, just thinking about can make everyone scared. Inmates serving life in prison are able to get special services, depending on their conduct. Inmates have double celled housing space for themselves, a person can get frustrated being small places and since the inmate is going to be there for life they want to at least let him feel good. The inmates also get employment opportunities, also depending in their conduct. They want the inmates to spend their time out of trouble and helping them get distracted can get them out of trouble. In some facilities the inmate can receive meals in their cells, in chow hall or in day room. Some facilities offer academic education; they offer adult basic education, GED, or special
This film really focuses on the characters. Their thoughts, anger, distress, and mistakes become part of your mistakes. This deals with a father’s s priority and how he will achieve that priority by using unethical ways like torturing an innocent man. Bringing up child abduction and torture are
...n (Director) mistakenly seems to believe can carry the whole film. On the strength "based on a true story", he has rejected attention-grabbing characters, an imaginative plot, and unforgettable villains.