Did you know Sing Sing is from the Native American language which means stone on stone and that after Edison introduced the electric chair there in 1903 that the town changed its name to Ossining as to not be confused with the jail?
And did you also know that while Joker Deux (or whatever the name is) got a 12 minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Fest, that without even seeing it, knowing it will be Grand with a capital G, I doubt it has the simple yet multi-emotional impact that Sing Sing has? You heard it hear first. Sing Sing is on a CODA level masterpiece.
In a nutshell, Sing Sing is a masterpiece because it taps in to the fundamental belief that we are all still innocent children at our core and still feel vulnerability and the thirst for love at any age.
The director, Greg Kwedar has been around for a bit, making his biggest splashes with The Jockey and what looks to be a violent border patrol story called Transpecos. The main screenwriter is Clint Bentley, who had the help of the theater troupe of real-life inmates who helped create the story.
And the screenplay is perfection. You get the entire context of prison sans the physical brutality, but yet who needs it when mental anguish can be just as deadly. We get the cruelty in prison-’the yard’, the confinement, the lack of agency, the drills, cell searches, etc. These are blended in with story so seamlessly, as well as other brief shots of a piece of plastic being stuck in the barbed wire (symbolizing confinement of course). Kudos to cinematographer, Pat Scola who also filmed another quiet masterpiece called Pig (Nick Cage).
In short, the film, starring Coleman Domingo is about a real life prison theater group meant to help rehabilitate the inmates. He deserves an Academy Award for this and if possible, Clarence Maclin (one of the co-writers and former prisoner playing his younger self in the film) also is super deserving of accolades as the Tyson-esque inmate who muscles his way into the theater group. Paul Raci (nominated for the under appreciated Sound of Metal) also does a yeoman’s job as the theater director.
The score by Bryce Dessner (The Revenant) is also gorgeous, yet subtle.
A must must see!
