At a time when freedom is sacrificed in the name of supposed safety. Where video cameras fill our streets and the police are uncontrolled legion. Where some alarmist media and tabloid called the massive enclosure. Where there are more prisoners than ever and the only solution to view it for more harmless crime is prison. Where it is proposed to increase the penalties for minors and the return of life imprisonment. But above all, in a world of souls chained to mortgages and junk. Of people locked in a world of isolation and fear ... At this time no wonder they turn into fashion prison movies. Gender claustrophobic and casual as they come, the prison film has great jewels of cinema. The recent success of films Cell 211 (Daniel Monzón, 2009), big winner of the Goya, and the exceptional A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, 2009) are isolates of the rebirth of a single gender. Prisons have been great moments in film stock. We can find prisons in genres as diverse as the musical, The Phantom of the Paradise (Brian de Palma, 1974, comedy, The Blues Brothers (John Landis, 1980), science fiction, A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971) or black film, Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990). But beyond occasional appearances in scenes covered in this article of films that develop most of their argument behind bars, otherwise the list would be unmanageable.
The first films to rescue melodramas set in prison are quite moral against the bad habits that have to be in prison and atmosphere of black cinema. As in many other genres, Howard Hawks was the pioneer with The Criminal Code (Howard Hawks, 1931), the first film which featured Boris Karloff, which was followed by two versions of San Quentin (Lloyd Bacon, 1937), the first with Humphrey Bogart, and the lower San Quentin (Gordon Douglas, 1946). The first great work prison is I Live (Robert Wise, 1958), ahead of her time reporting of the death penalty, with a magnificent performance by Susan Hayward. Following this gem gender prison acquire many features of social demand titles.
The great tape in Europe is the French Evasion (Jacques Becker, 1960), a masterpiece and legacy of its director and comprehensive account of the escape from prison.
In The Man of Alcatraz (John Frankenheimer, 1962) the genre takes on a leisurely tone to tell the true story of a prisoner, played by Burt Lancaster, who becomes imprisoned in a world-renowned ornithologist . The Great Escape (John Sturges, 1962) is the quintessential example of the adaptation of the stage military prison genre. A classic action movie with Steve McQueen in one of his legendary roles that would become a reference work for many others, although the film has great war stories developed in prison camps such as the magnificent Stalag ( Billy Wilder, 1953) or the Oscar-winning The Bridge on the River Kwai (David Lean, 1957), also with William Holden and Alec Guinness enormous. In the world cinema section, Japan's No Greater Love (Masaki Kobayashi, 1959), part of the trilogy The Human Condition, is a non-violent song that drink too much movies like Full Metal Jacket.
The western has also given us examples prison environments, without going any further one of his classic, Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959) takes place in the cell of an office of sheriff. Leitmotiv that recurs in many western movies, but if we talk about prisons classic recommend reviewing the Cheaters Day (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1970), despite being one of the most mediocre films the director of All About Eve and the mark remains a curious mixture of genres (comedy, western ...) and features an exceptional cast (Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Warren Oates ....)
Stuart Rosenberg become one of the directors who knew best how to move the prison environment to the movies, adding fun and exciting movies fair dose of social criticism. His two major contributions are Cool Hand Luke (Stuart Rosenberg, 1967), one of the most memorable roles Paul Newman, and the great Brubaker (Stuart Rosenberg, 1980) with Mr Newman, Robert Redford, taking over as warden of a corrupt prison. The latter has the added bonus of seeing the first role of Morgan Freeman. Another subgenus to consider are the films set in mental hospitals, where they shine like jewels Shock Corridor (Samuel Fuller, 1963) or One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Milos Forman, 1975).
Papillon (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1973) is another prison film tops, again with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman glorious to get a wonderful chemistry in this true story of impossible escapes.
At the other extreme is The Midnight Express (Alan Parker, 1978), film from a screenplay by Oliver Stone which endangered the institutional relations between the U.S. and Turkey to give an almost masochistic Turkish prisons.
Escape From Alcatraz (Don Siegel, 1979) was the fifth collaboration between Clint Eastwood and underrated director of Dirty Harry, and in practice one of the best action films set in a prison. A fun and exciting gem many of the clichés that other tapes then repeated ad nauseam.
Bad Boys (Rick Rosenthal, 1983) led to the discovery of Sean Penn and is a story of teenagers in prison. On the other hand contains one of the largest kits in the history of cinema, as in the final bout for several seconds we can see a whole film crew. More of the same, Enclosed (John Flynn, 1989) made for showcasing Sylvester Stallone and Freedom to Die (Deran Sarafian, 1990), idem for Jean-Claude Van Damme, represent the worst of the genre. A lot of topics and situations with great vengeance and repeated beatings from stockings, proper muscular action film of the 80.
In Spain, all in jail (Luis G. Berlanga, 1993) was the translation of gender Berlanga grotesque and coral the world of the inmate. A comedy well below the director's masterpieces.
Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994) was a sentimental approach to the prison, through complaint and many good intentions. The same director again adapt Stephen King on the bottom The Green Mile (Frank Darabont, 1999). The prison had become by then a halo of redemption in works like these, American History X (Tony Kaye, 1998), in which Edward Norton exceeded their racism behind bars. Also Norton and that whiff Redeemer, The Last Night (Spike Lee, 2002), has an interesting perspective in recounting the past twenty four hours of a man who will go to prison. On the other side of the lockers were thanking the stories of unjust imprisonment based on real cases, such as The Hurricane (Norman Jewison, 1999).
A recent jewelry is Big Bang Love, Juvenile A (Takashi Miike, 2006), a perverse, poetic film equal parts surrealism drinking the best of his brilliant director, Japanese Takashi Miike. Two films like Leonera (Pablo Trapero, 2008) and The My Prison Yard (Belén Macías, 2008) have recently served to honor the women in prison movie, a genre that traditionally only used for erotic purposes and in the sexploitation films of Women in Cages, Women's Correctional Facility or a male in a women's prison in which women in prison wore tight shirts and liked to whip in masochistic ecstasy. Recent findings
marginal cinema have been sponsored by the great success in TV Prison Break, a series that summarizes in his first season the best action film of the prison environment to get lost in their next season in limbo. Cell 211 has some great players to lift a certain dyes anecdotal history of social criticism. Meanwhile, A Prophet is the last great work to be taken into account in the prison film. An epic work that gathers the best of the genre classic black cinema facing him and the poetry of European cinema. An essential work.
As we await the next film of prisoners, seize his message palatable. There is always smaller cells and strings tighter than ours. But some viewers are not content with that ... and prepare their escape.
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