REVIEW: 'Sing Sing'
By avoiding the stereotypes of previous American prison dramas and focusing on the human need for art, 'Sing Sing' soars as a deeply kind and human piece on the values of community and art
“We here to become human again, to put on nice clothes and dance around and enjoy the things that is not in our reality”
Back in late July, I spent a Saturday afternoon in the movie theater flitting from film to film. This is not an unusual thing for me to do, and the way I choose what to see is largely based on a ratio of showtime to amount of time I can spend in Barnes and Noble. On this particular humid Saturday, I caught the one showing happening all day for Sing Sing, and forgot to even log it on my Letterboxd (where I fastidiously record every film I see). I would apologize, but I feel it is a better thing to instead bring up that between that random Saturday afternoon in July and when I rewatched it ahead of the Oscars, I have thought about this movie every day.
Based on stories from participants of the real-life Rehabilitation Through the Arts program at Sing Sing Maximum Security Prison, the film centers around a group of incarcerated men in the program developing and putting on a new play. As the group prepares to take on a new production, Divine G (Colman Domingo) begins to recruit new members to their small theater group. He convinces Divine Eye, a gruff and aggressive fellow inmate, to join, and a rivalry turned unlikely friendship begins. While pursuing his passion for theater, supporting fellow inmates through the justice system, and helping other inmates prepare for parole hearings, Divine G is determined to prove his innocence and regain his freedom.
Director Greg Kwedar approaches the film with a textured neorealism that makes the film feel very lived-in and intimate, and avoids the easy pitfalls of most American prison dramas. We’ve seen numerous prison dramas that contain extreme violence, racism, sexual assault, slurs, etc. - Sing Sing doesn’t have any of that. It’s all about becoming yourself again and finding ways to express your creativity that we know we all have some where inside of us. Kwedar’s film tells the damage of the U.S. prison system inflicts on the psyche and a man’s desire to rise above it.
Moments that stood out the most to me happened during the program’s exercise circles and improvisation, where the men are asked to close their eyes, and “imagine a friend”, or come up with a “perfect place.” Their camaraderie and vulnerability only deepen as they share their experiences with fellow members. The stories we hear, simple moments of everyday life, hold so much weight. In the marketing for the film, we learned that many of the actors in the cast were real-life alumni of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program at Sing Sing, and perhaps the most poignant thing about the stories we hear is that these stories are authentic to the actors sharing them.
In an effort to combat prison movie stereotypes and focus on the restorative power of art and community, the film walks a very, very fine line between sweet and saccharine, sometimes to its own detriment. A heavy focus on the theater group as a whole means we never really spend enough time with any one character (with one notable exception) outside of it. Maybe a different film would focus on the group from the outside, examining it through the eyes of characters we follow from much earlier and live with more day to day, but this one examines the people in the group from where they are every time they come together to rehearse - a choice that centers the focus of the film truly on the healing nature of art. This story is told by former RTA members on their own terms. The use of real life footage from RTA productions hammers this home - the very existence of this movie is the point and proof of its values.
As Divine G, Colman Domingo gives one of his most nuanced and intimate performances. It’s certainly a performance that earned him the Oscar nomination he received for it, but the movie almost doesn’t feel like it’s his. Hot on Domingo’s heels in a stunning film debut is Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, who storms into frame and commands the screen every time he appears. It’s a bold director who chooses to have two actors perform the same Hamlet soliloquy in a film, but the way the famous “To Be or Not To Be” monologue is framed as a device to explain the way both Divine G and Divine Eye view RTA and the world around them is a gamble that pays off in spades as Domingo and Maclin both deliver stunning takes on the soliloquy.
Sing Sing is an incredibly beautiful and important movie about the just how important and healing art is. How it can lead you to uncover truths about yourself, and how it never leaves you.
It’s always in you.