Sing Sing

Sing Sing

I was listening to the radio yesterday. We are seeing a mass early release to help with prison overcrowding. There is nothing too drastic in terms of sentences, but many are unprepared. An inmate was interviewed: “I’ll be a free man by 10 a.m., but on a bench by 10 p.m., homeless and drinking with nowhere to go.” 

 That’s one line.

Another is the role of race within the system. Prison sees the sentencing of black men as three times more likely. Let me be clear: this is not about innocence or guilt; this is about sentencing; a black man in the U.K. is three times more likely to see incarceration for the same crime. Those white men who are in jail tend to be from Irish traveller backgrounds. 

This film is not about that. It’s there. In America, we are not here to learn authentic tragedies. This is not a trauma. It is about a group of men looking to escape reality, not deny it. That statement could be made by any men’s group today.

It’s bleak in many ways; it doesn’t shy away from facts. But that’s why they take such pride in their acting. That’s why the group wants a time travel comedy rather than teaching authentic stories. 

In many ways, we see the classic am dram comedy\ the role of divine G is almost like Richard Brewer wanting everyone else to be empowered while reluctant to share his issues. Meanwhile, divine e comes in, all glamour and verse and takes the role of Hamlet. 

As they each go through the system and its pitfalls, we gain insight into the rest of the cast, which is where the greatest appeal is.

Filmed in a documentary style and with actors who had gone through the programme in real life, the chance to open up is the reality of its appeal. You have no interest in what they did to get into prison, jsut how they attempt to thrive and strive within it. As expectations of the system swerved and flipped within the narrative, we see real challenges and tragedy and how its emotional vocabulary is as essential as intellectual to them all. 

It’s taut and crushing but still so bleakly funny at times. I laugh at the absurdities that are a reality in it all.

It’s worth a chance to see. I worked very casually with day release, and the fact is still there. Once you’re in prison, you can’t really front for too long. 

But spending time with this evolution and narrative is a worthwhile cause. Do go and check it out.