shawshank sounds like youve done time all over new england

#Shawshank sounds like youve done time all over new england movie

While the film criticizes the inhuman treatment of prison inmates, it celebrates the indomitable spirit of its central character. Every time we hear Paul Newman’s famous line: “What we have here is failure to communicate”, it takes us back to a pleasant experience, a good time at the movies we had when we first watched it. Thank heavens for Paul Newman! Fashionisto 5. Brubaker (1980)īrubaker is a dark, grim but clever take on the usual prisoner-guard conflict. Robert Redford stands in as the central character who infiltrates the prison as an inmate only to reveal his real identity: that of the new prison warden. He aims to rid the place off corruption and ends up clashing with the powers that be in the process.

#Shawshank sounds like youve done time all over new england movie

If you’ve liked any prison movie ever, Brubaker should be on your to-watch list by now.

Animal Factory (2000)Īnimal Factory is like an evil twin of The Shawshank Redemption. It’s a bloody good movie, one that often gets overlooked.

The plot revolves around Ron Decker who’s been slapped with a long prison sentence that he’s unsure of getting through on his own. So he gets under the wing of an ex-gang leader for guidance and protection. The relationship between the two men is explored to great depths and is often the heartiest part of the film. Papillon is a two-and-a-half hour drama about endurance, greed and friendship under the peril risk of life. Based on the real life story of Henri Charriere, Papillon finds its leading cast on the dreadful Devil’s Island. Charriere saves the life of a fellow inmate who in turn agrees to fund his escape plan. Solitary confinement and horrible French penal conditions further strengthen their friendship and by the end of it, we’re rooting for both of them. This is The Shawshank Redemption in a french correctional facility called the Devil’s Island. La Grande Illusion is one of the greatest French movies ever made. In fact, the celebrated director Orson Welles named this as one of the movies he’ll take “on the ark”. Two French soldiers are captured in German war camps during the World War I. They attempt multiple almost successful escape attempts, after which they are transferred to an impenetrable fortress. 80 years on, La Grande Illusion continues to hold up strong on second, third or fourth viewing. Stalag 17 (1953)Īnother one from the archives, Stalag 17 is the most perfect film from this list. Perfect, because it perfectly summarizes all imaginable aspects of life in a prison. There’s escape attempts, convicts shot dead, corruption and the humanization of one of the world’s most inhuman places. Billy Wilder demanded his audience to un-know what they already knew about prison life and then delivered the inmate life on a platter. Word of advice, make yourselves available for this movie. It deserves 100 percent of your attention. The film is about a young Arab man who’s sentenced to 6 years in prison. As much as he wants his prison term to be inconspicuous, he finds himself trapped among mobsters. Life in prison lays the foundation of his moral conflict. We see, we observe but we cannot comment. The film stays away from being preachy (despite having been named The Prophet). And that makes it one of the most effective prison movies to have come out in the last decade.