HFC at SXSW '24: Sing Sing

Being creative is hard. You stare at a blank canvas with a world of imagination, but the intimidation of that blank space can be tough to overcome. Ultimately, you can go outside, get some fresh air, and come back to the idea while it gestates in your mind. Now imagine you are locked inside of a heavily patrolled prison and still want to try to find a way to let your voice and creativity shine. The confines of those small cells, the people inside who may not have the best intentions, the food, and the oppressive atmosphere would delay most from pursuing their art. Survival and persistence is monumental. 

Inspired by the actual Rehabilitation Through the Arts program in the Sing Sing maximum security prison, Greg Kwedar’s Sing Sing tells the story of a performance group within the prison as they prepare for their upcoming production. Opting out of the usual dramas and Shakespearean plays, the group creates an original comedy titled “Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code.” 

Wilfred Rose on the subway, the scene of his crimes, 2023. | Credit: j. Daniel Zuniga

Colman Domingo plays Divine G, an author who was incarcerated for a crime that he didn’t commit and is actively trying to get out of the system. He loves theater and commits himself to the stage through writing plays. He commits himself to the drama of it all, and when the group proposes a comedy he’s the first to shoot it down. The way he carries himself, both with pride and humility, leaps through the screen, but the real effect of his performance comes from his upper third. The pain behind his eyes, the way the wrinkles in his face bend and fold through the confusion. How he uses his voice, both softly to speak with the other inmates, but projects it when on the stage. It’s masterful stuff to watch on screen. 

This movie shines in its ability to bring inmates in front of the camera for the first time and allow them the space to act. During one of the film’s key moments, the inmates are auditioning for roles in the play. The second this montage begins, the movie reveals its ace in the hole: none of these inmates are working Hollywood actors. They’re alumni of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program. These guys are so incredible that I swore that I had seen them in other films before, despite knowing this was their first time on camera. Everyone stands out, but Clarence “Divine Eye” Macklin comes on screen like a tidal wave. With humor and bravado mixed with a tough guy exterior, he is one to be on the lookout for. A man at the top of the inmate hierarchy auditioning for the role of Hamlet, something that could be sold as goofy and silly, but instead is played with such an enormous weight on his back. This may be his first film, but it definitely won't be his last. Hopefully it won’t be anyone in this film’s last performance because they’re all so incredible. The task of stepping back into the place where there is so much trauma embedded into the walls for these actors was such a big ask, but they all stepped up to the plate almost as if they had a duty to tell this story. 

Kwedar’s direction really shines through in all of the small decisions he makes. Rather than speeding the actors through a scene, he allows them to let it play out naturally. Their disagreements feel real, you can feel them trying to break free of the walls that have drained countless souls before them. During the audition scene, he gives them the space to play in front of the camera, like children discovering their parent’s camcorder for the first time. He allows the camera to linger on the actors long after their dialogues have finished, showing that even though they are convincing on the stage, they may not feel convinced of themselves or their performances. All of the decisions made show trust and camaraderie in his production crew and actors that make the film feel warm despite being about a place so cold. Not to mention it’s also hilarious, the first hour is deceptively funny. Going into the film, one might not expect it to feel like a pretty straight forward comedy, but for the first 45 minutes you can’t help but laugh with the characters. They’re all so lifelike, which is only accentuated by the fact that these are real people who are funny in the ways that real people are instead of the ways audiences have grown so accustomed to seeing on screen. They speak like real people, they joke like real people, they are real people. 

Sing Sing is a magician’s best trick from a filmmaker still early in his career. A gentle film that embodies what we as people crave: the ability to explore the facets of ourselves that we push down deep, and the pain that comes with being human. Kwedar and crew demolish the barriers between the walls of the prison and the outside to remind us that we all have desires and ambitions despite the things that hold us back and that at the end of the day we’re all the same, it’s just the circumstances that separate us. 

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