A prison film is a
film genre
A film genre is a stylistic or thematic category for motion pictures based on similarities either in the narrative elements, aesthetic approach, or the emotional response to the film.
Drawing heavily from the theories of literary-genre cri ...
concerned with
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...
life and often
prison escape
A prison escape (referred as a bust out, breakout, jailbreak, or prison break) is the act of an inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways. Normally, when this occurs, an effort is made on the part of authorities to recapture t ...
. These films range from acclaimed dramas examining the nature of prisons, such as ''
Cool Hand Luke
''Cool Hand Luke'' is a 1967 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring Paul Newman and featuring George Kennedy in an Oscar-winning performance. Newman stars in the title role as Luke, a prisoner in a Florida prison ca ...
'', ''
Midnight Express'', ''
Brubaker'', ''
Escape from Alcatraz'', ''
The Shawshank Redemption
''The Shawshank Redemption'' is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1982 Stephen King novella ''Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption''. It tells the story of banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), w ...
'', and ''
Kiss of the Spider Woman'' to actioners like ''
Lock Up'' and ''
Undisputed'', and even comedies satirizing the genre like ''
Stir Crazy'', ''
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy ...
'', and ''
Let's Go to Prison
''Let's Go to Prison'' is a 2006 American comedy film directed by Bob Odenkirk and starring Dax Shepard, Will Arnett and Chi McBride. The film was loosely based on the non-fiction book, '' You Are Going to Prison'' by Jim Hogshire. It was relea ...
''. Prison films have been asserted to be "guilty of oversimplifying complex issues, the end result of which is the proliferation of stereotypes".
For example, they are said to perpetuate "a common misperception that most correctional officers are abusive", and that prisoners are "violent and beyond redemption".
Themes
Themes repeatedly visited in the prison films include escape attempts, gang activities inside the prison, efforts of wrongly convicted persons to prove their innocence, and guard and management cruelty. An entire subgenre of films exists where the toughest prisoners are permitted (or forced) to engage in boxing matches or martial arts bouts, replete with high-stakes wagering on the outcomes. Prison films set during
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
have become a popular subgenre known as
prisoner of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of ...
film. These various theme elements may be meshed together, where for example a prisoner forced to fight uses the occasion to plan an escape.
Imprisonment is a widespread punishment all over the world, but prisons for most people are an unknown experience. Anything they know is mostly, through media and cinema representations. Additionally, the audience is captivated by issues which are unknown and unreachable, and which relate to the criminal behavior and action of institutions of social control of crime, but also to life in prison.
Media and societal perception
Journalist Paul Manson argued that generally, it is argued that fictionalized representations of the prison have not contributed to public understanding of the prison, and do not contribute positively in the direction of improving it. This is because the entertainment television industry has transformed crime and jail into entertaining objects, thus eroding our doubts and concerns about the prison as a solution of crime reduction.
The fictional representation of prison in cinema, the last decade, manufactures prison not only as necessary punishment but also as a unique process for the control and reduction of crime, in order to eliminate these "others" misfits, "psychotic criminals".
In 1979 the film ''Scum'' led to reforms of prisons and borstals in the UK.
See also
*
List of prison films
This is a list of prison films—films which are primarily concerned with prison life or prison escape.
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* '' 13 Dead Men''
* ''20,000 Years in Sing Sing''
* '' 3 Deewarein''
* ''6,000 Enemies''
A
* ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' ...
*
Prison escape
A prison escape (referred as a bust out, breakout, jailbreak, or prison break) is the act of an inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways. Normally, when this occurs, an effort is made on the part of authorities to recapture t ...
*
Women in prison film
References
Film genres
*
Film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...
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