tmoney
Posts 183
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7/18/2006 10:32 PM
posted awhile ago
Excellent film. Would like to discuss it.
I watched this today (the same day of its release) and must say I enjoyed it very much. (I had heard a similar story quite some time ago on This American Life, titiled Act V, and it has since become my favorite episode.) This film explored many similar ideas of redemption and forgiveness. It really put a human face on prison inmates. I also enjoyed the fly on the wall style, where the director didn't try to set up context, or go into the prison system and statistics. He just showed the audience what he saw and heard.
The thing about Shakespear, for me, was that the material never seemed relevant for me. For one, Shakespearean language often puts the modern reader at distance from engaging with the content of the material. I believe the last time I read Shakespeare was in High School where Shakespeare is the last thing that I wanted to read. But the film Shakespeare behind bars put a unique perspective on the themes that Shakespeare used over and over. Regret, fear, revenge, forgiveness, and redemption. I would recommend watching this film!
My only complaints: 1. The music gets very old, and seems to be unfitting at certain points. 2. The final performance is never shown. Only bits and pieces placed with jangly southern guitar pluckin'. Throughout the film, you get to see the powerful performances of these people and how they relate to their characters through their dark pasts. And we never get to see the fruits of their labours.
My suggestion, listen to the This American Life segment Act V and view this film. Don't compare them because they are totally different things (radio doc. verses film doc.)
Some questions. What were some feelings you felt when you watched this film? How did you react to the crimes of the inmates? Where do the lines between sympathy, empathy, and reality cross?
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paul
Posts 251
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7/19/2006 4:35 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Excellent film. Would like to discuss it.
I saw this flick at the Waterfront Film Festival in 2005 and it blew me away.
It's important to note the hours spent rehearsing by these inmates do not count toward any points with the parole board. So the work these men do is not motivated by any concrete reward.
The curious thing about these inmates grappling to bring Shakespeare to life is they can't do it without exploring their own crimes. Hank Rogerson (director) holds off letting the audience in on their crimes until we've made a connection to them through their work. As far as what I think about their crimes, I often remember one inmate saying he wants a chance, like people on the outside, to be remembered for something other than the worst thing he ever did. That statement always moves me.
I think most the prisoners in the Shakespeare Behind Bars program are changed men. They're, for lack of a better word, heroic when they take responsibility for the terrible things they've done. It's something most people on the outside refuse to do with their own pasts. I'm not excusing what they've done. They hurt a lot of people. But most of them have owned their crime and don't try to excuse it or pretend they can make up for what they've done. They, like the rest of us, are just hoping for a chance to do something redeeming before they die. So they perform Shakespeare.
P.S. Government institutions could learn a lot about rehabilitation from this film.
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tmoney
Posts 183
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7/19/2006 9:19 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Excellent film. Would like to discuss it.
I took away the same feelings about the film. Yet the more I think about it, I become less and less hopeful. The film shows that while these people may and understand the severity of their crimes, and the process of forgiveness and all, they are not all like you and me. The "hole" was kind of a reminder that many are not rehabilitated despite their rhetoric. I empathized with these people, yet was kept at bay by both the severity of some of their crimes, and more so by the realities of human nature. I want to believe that these people are rehabilitated but also don't want to be persuaded by this film to premature assumptions about the prison system that I know almost nothing about. Should this affect how I judge these people? No. This film does a great job of connecting you to the "person" rather than the "criminal". But I don't want to get too caught up in the moment of the film to believe all the ideals of rehabilitation.
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paul
Posts 251
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7/20/2006 4:26 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Excellent film. Would like to discuss it.
I actually got to chat with the man who runs the Shakespeare Behind Bars program and I also have a friend who does another similar program. Both shared with me the same opinion about the prison system, which is the process for receiving parole is convoluted and random at best. For a few minutes once a year, a board opens a prisoner's file, skims it, then makes a decision. Really, if one of the people on the board had a bad commute, it could influence whether or not a rehabilitated prisoner stays behind bars.
I myself have not experienced it first hand, but after talking to these guys I believe what I saw in the documentary is a much more rounded out picture of these prisoners than what the typical parole board sees.
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