IFFB: Shakespeare Behind Bars Reviewed

It’s day number one at the Independent Film Festival of Boston (although it’s technically day two since they held their opening night film last night). I’m at the Brattle Theater in Harvard Square, where a short young lady with butterfly wings hands me my ballot.I am tempted to ask her about the wings but instead make my way to my seat where I again meet up with the lady I met last night making a prison documentary (shoulda figured she was going to be at this film). What is kinda amazing is the theater isn't even 20% full, which is probably due to it being 1:00pm on Friday afternoon. I’m sure everything will pick up when we hit 5:00pm.

Shakespeare Behind Bars starts with a couple big guys rehearsing lines for a Shakespeare play in what looks to be a big open green park. After a minute we pull back to reveal they're in the yard of a prison. This is Shakespeare Behind Bars, which is in its seventh year.

This is a truly great documentary about the characters in the prison theater program. This year they are doing The Tempest, which would be the third redemption/forgiveness themed play in a row for them. This is not a coincidence.
One prisoner says that everyone can relate to the play because "We all need to be redeemed in some way," these guys more than most.

One of the players named Big was arrested in a shoot out with the police at 21. A cop died. He says he was a lot like the character he plays in the play: scared. When the director tells him that even though his character "may be monstrous the outside, he still feels and hurts inside," you can tell Big personally relates to the statement. The movie is filled with lines like that ,where if you step back it has a double meaning.

The prisoners discuss how Shakespeare Plays lack the mention of mother characters, as they hang out on an outside park bench in the yard.

They get to pick their own characters but Al seems unhappy with his choice, which he says was forced upon him. The part of Miranda is a female role. Guys play all the female roles just like in traditional Shakespeare times. Later he begins to relate to his character. Both characters had to deal with the issues arriving from never having known their fathers. There is a scene in the play where Miranda asks about her (or is it his?) father which Al says closes mirrors a scene from his young adult life.

A role must be recast when Leonard is moved to a maximum security prison. Antonio steps in and takes over the part..  "He creates his own destiny and I like that about him."

Antonio's in jail for killing the two guys who murdered his stepfather. He got two life sentences with no chance for parole. "Just give me something, a light at the end of the tunnel. I don't even get to see the parole board," pleads Antonio.

They discuss the line from the play: "the rarer act is choosing virtue over vengeance," as if they already have made this choice in life.. They all seem truly sorry for what they have done and they're all awaiting forgiveness anbd their own redemption.

One prisoner murdered his wife, electrocuting her in bathtub. He says everyone believed it was an accident, for 10 years. He doesn't reveal how he was caught but it wouldn't be hard to believe he may have turned himself in.

The guys playing the female roles practice taking smaller steps, trying to move and act more like a woman. All of the players in the program take the play with the upmost seriousness, putting a lot of long hours in. That's not to say they don't have fun. Three prisoners decided to turn a scene of the play in to a rap with dancing. This is some very funny stuff.

One prisoner says he's afraid that he's reached such success inside the prison, that he'll never be able to reach such success on the outside.

25 weeks in and they start worrying about their lines after they're saying them. The director tells them not to "worry about the past. That's already gone. This moment determines the future. Its this moment that matters."

Watching this film, you sometimes question if these guys should really be in there. They seem so nice, well spoken, and sorry. Shots of the prison sometimes make it look like a lower class sports club. But there is a moment where an argument breaks out over criticism and you see how it can get. In the end all's forgotten and they come together.

Howard meets the parole board expecting to be out in a couple of months. When he's told that he has another five more years, all the inmates are shocked and saddened.  One prisoner observes that "We embrace the world and the world eats us up."

37 weeks later they turn a little room into a theater and perform the play in front of an audience of their family and friends. Months later they took the play on the road to other prisons where it was greatly received. Next year they will move on to Julius Ceasar.

I would highly reccomend this movie to anyone. The soundtrack is haunting, filled with violins. It's very interesting to see the prisoners in an environment you've probably never seen them in before. When the prisoners recount what they did to get sentenced, all of them have tears in their eyes. Some of them are good actors, but not this good. You get a sense that a lot of the guys in this group understand the mistakes they made, and are genuinely sorry, and not just sorry they were caught. This movie gives me faith in the prison system. If only more prisons offered programs like this...