Sing Sing (2024)
Directed by: Greg Kwedar
Premise: Inmates at Sing Sing Maximum Security Prison participate in the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program in which they put on a play that they have created. A playwright (Colman Domingo) befriends a new member of the acting company (Clarence Maclin).
What Works: Movies about prisons are often about characters asserting their humanity against a dehumanizing institution. That’s precisely what Sing Sing is about and it effectively dramatizes the possibilities of rehabilitation through the creation of art. The story centers upon the relationship between Divine G, a playwright and a veteran of the prison’s theater program, and Clarence, a newcomer who is initially standoffish and guarded. Clarence’s transitions from presenting a tough gangster persona to someone softer and more empathetic. That transformation is presented efficiently but credibly. Clarence has difficulty with the material but he is ultimately able to perform as an actor and in doing so reconcile his masculinity with his feelings. Clarence’s story is quietly subversive in the way it suggests that constructive action and introspection, not deprivation and punishment, will ultimately rehabilitate and reform these prisoners. As such, Sing Sing succeeds in demonstrating the rehabilitative possibilities of art. At the same time, Divine G prepares for a clemency hearing in which he confronts the way the system is designed to dash his hopes and keep him incarcerated. This is a familiar theme in prison dramas but the pairing of Clarence and Divine G’s stories makes for a whole that is bigger than the sum of its parts. Colman Domingo and Clarence Maclin star as Divine G and Clarence and they are raw, nuanced, and soulful performance. Many of the supporting characters are portrayed by actual inmates playing themselves. The actors impress in their naturalism and honesty. They don’t mug for the camera and they give Sing Sing an unvarnished reality.
What Doesn’t: Sing Sing is intended to make us see the humanity of these incarcerated people and grasp the rehabilitative possibilities of art. The film succeeds in doing that but it takes a critical shortcut. The filmmakers do not discuss or even acknowledge the criminal actions that put these men behind bars. The only exception is Divine G and it’s heavily implied that he was wrongly convicted. A complete accounting of these characters’ whole humanity requires acknowledgment of their criminal pasts. Moreover, reconciliation and rehabilitation require them to face it. The filmmakers of Sing Sing dodge that issue and in doing so they weaken the film. The characters and the filmmakers evade the most difficult part of this subject matter which leaves its portrait of these men incomplete and misses the opportunity to lead the viewer to a more profound epiphany that criminality does not negate humanity.
Bottom Line: Sing Sing is an exceptional drama with some great performance. It’s also a subtly subversive story about humanity and incarceration. The filmmakers miss an important part of these characters but Sing Sing overall succeeds rhetorically and dramatically.
Episode: #1032 (January 19, 2025)