When contemplating movies that truly deal with the essence of prisons and their affect on the inhabitants and guards within the walls, a few masterpieces, such as “The Shawshank Redemption” and “Dead Man Walking,” immediately come to mind, but the simplistic belief that films about current or former convicts are the only ones that truly express the claustrophobia of this perpetual condition is both incorrect and unimaginative. The most effective films about prisons actually have little to do with convicted felons and more to do with the harsh and unbending barriers that are established either by society or themselves. Martin Scorsese, the greatest director of all time, has dealt with these imaginary walls in almost every film he has made, powerfully exposing the true hold that these “prisons” have on individuals who want nothing more than to break free.
Scorsese’s greatest triumph, “Raging Bull,” tells the story of Jake La Matta, a boxer who hates himself with such vigor that he is willing to take a pounding long after any fight has been decided. La Matta was a prisoner of his own sin, which was what pervaded his own self-loathing, and the various societal laws he violated in an attempt to cure his loneliness. In “The Age of Innocence,” Daniel Day-Lewis and Michelle Pfeiffer play individuals whose passion for each other is exceeded only by their reverence for 19th century American societal rules. They are prisoners of a world that continuously tells them that their love can be nothing other than forbidden. “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” involves a woman who is trapped in a society where men are not only viewed as superior, but are perpetually given the tools to succeed without any of the trials that women must face. Other films, including “The Departed” and “Gangs of New York,” also are intriguing explorations in the manner that they deal with both criminal and societal structures.
Scorsese is not the only filmmaker who analyzes the use of artificial or invisible prisons. In fact, some of the decade’s most poignant movies have used this backdrop to tell more impactful stories. “Monster” and “The Wrestler” were memorable films about people trapped inside themselves, alone and trying to reach out, but finding this almost impossible because of past mistakes and wounds that harm them worse because of their inability to break free from these self-destructive habits. “Brokeback Mountain” tells an incredibly touching story about people caught in a societal prison of a homosexual relationship that traps them within this structure, causing an emotional landscape filled only with victims. “Monster’s Ball” treats this sense of everlasting imprisonment the best of any film in recent memory. Marc Forster’s film has a vast knowledge of its environment and vividly expresses the walls established by past mistakes, lessons learned, the sins of fathers, and the deep grasp both racism and poverty has on some members of our world.
Both “Monster’s Ball” and “Dead Man Walking” are partially set in actual prisons and reveal something powerful about the realistic nature of inmates, while making stark statement about the validity of the death penalty. The film that seems to most effectively evoke the mental, physical, and emotional state of convicts is “The Shawshank Redemption”, a film that believes the sanity of our prisoners lies within their ability to hope. The film refuses to list any specific intangible idea to hope for, implying that believing you can be a better person, a more fulfilled soul, and someone who has begun to decipher the moral complexities in this world which is, in a way, something we all can hope to forever strive toward.