Im Netz der Gewalt

Short Eyes is yet another 70's flick lost until recently in the world of obscure VHS,various licensing and grey market bootlegs. However, it is one of the best dramas of the decade and deserved the DVD re-release.

The story centers about the denizens of "The Tombs", the Men's House of Detention in Manhattan, where it was filmed. Like many other prison-centered scripts, it fleshes out the microcosmic aspect of a isolated society and provides the alternate racial existence on "the inside" (where white is the minority). The story establishes the environment inside, outlining the groups and nearly making the life seem manageable. Then a white middle-class inmate arrives and is quickly exposed by a guard as a accused child molester, or short eyes. The group at large quickly responds as we see what this society really deems offensive.

Along the way we experience religious presence, soulful expression, prison hierarchy, sexual intimidation, mental coercion, utter rage, blinding fear, confiding, alienation and displacement. In other words, the range of emotions from several characters displays to the viewer the depth and severity of how living in a world where entropy is the only constant. There is a passage in the movie where the complete ambivalence of every person becomes evident; there are no longer any allies or any semblance of trust when it is exposed that everyone will take what they want when possible. The guards are an important part of the population but there is no real opposition there- no protagonists to speak of, only a film of corruption over the cruel survivalist scene. Stirring, impassioned material.

While there are no big stars in this, an independent adaptation of Miguel Pinero's early 70's play, it still has some amazing performances. Jose Perez does a stellar job as the one prisoner who can tolerate speaking with the 'short eyes'. Prolific character actor Bruce Davison is outstanding as the conflicted and confused molester, who cannot weather this change of environment. Nathan George, a great character actor who remained busy in the 70's, is in fine form here. Joseph Carberry is the central white inmate and wears his hate and mistrust as a badge of identity. And of course, there is no forgetting the cameos by the late Curtis Mayfield and Freddy Fender. In one group scene, Fender engages in a song ("Break The Dawn") captivating the entire population, an amazing slow soulful track that is matched by the following Mayfield song, "Do Do Wap is Strong In Here". Two smoky, slow-burn tracks sung by two legends that literally soothes the savagery here. A rewindable, unforgettable classic scene.

In an extra note, superb modern Latino actor Luis Guzman appears as an extra here in his first film appearance. Look for him in the above Mayfield/Fender song sequence and in a few other scenes, sporting a blowout afro.

There is ample reason why this is often referred to as a 'prison/horror film' but its really a stark, tense drama. Coupled with the Benjamin Bratt-lead Pinero, this is one of the best ways to get a taste of the lost genius of Miguel Pinero. The DVD issue of Short Eyes features a commentary track by the director along with Leon Ichaso, director of Pinero. Although there is much left open about this masterpiece, the commentary truly adds a lot of miscellaneous info that fans like myself would appreciate. Not to be missed.

When something feels so real, true to its life in all respects, you get let in and buried beneath its weight. "Short Eyes" is a film that takes straight reality, fills it with characters and words of full realization, and takes you down the corridor of a 1 hour, 39 minute hell. Miguel Pinero wrote a script from a world he knew well, words and people from the dark side of America. No one but a former prisoner could have reflected things so pure and so ugly. Robert M. Young as director sets the scene and understands what the story needs. He lets it happen with the freedom begged for.

I could say a lot more, I suppose, but every event hinges on those surrounding it, so to say much is perhaps having to say all. It's a flat painful experience, leaving you with the title character, played by Bruce Davison. Regardless of who you are or what your sin may be, this character is meant to be you. Watch him, feel his hurt, live his guilt, and he might just reflect a little bit of you back. This is not an easy thing.

Short Eyes is to prison pictures what the atom bomb is to weaponry— powerful and frightening from one end to the other. In fact, I'm surprised the movie got made at all since it's got all the commercial appeal of live surgery. But once you start watching, you can't stop. The characters are real and riveting, the setting an actual prison (The Tombs), and the violence sudden and brutal. It's almost like being in prison, except thankfully you're not.

The story is about one floor of the lockup where the packed-in racial groups appear poised for combat like Europe in 1914. There's a tense truce as long as Whites, Blacks, and Browns observe the unwritten rules and don't invade the wrong space. Too bad they're not making music all the time because that's the only time they seem in harmony. Then into this tense mix comes a guy everyone can despise, a child-molester (Davison). Worse, he's a white guy who even looks like "the man". So he's got as much chance of surviving as a minnow has among sharks-- that is, if the authorities don't pull him out first. And, kind of surprisingly, we wish they would since after listening to his "story", he seems more pathetic than wicked.

Two things to note. Catch how difficult it is for any kind of humanity to survive amid racially charged, oppressive conditions that the authorities (guards, supervisors) only make worse. Juan (Perez) wants to cling to some vestige, but he's got to do it within the unwritten rules. And, in this testosterone-soaked atmosphere, the problem isn't just ethnic, it's other guys in general. However, the most nightmarish part is the threat of emasculation, men being denied their identity and turned into substitute women. That scene in the shower between Cupcakes and Paco may be more unsettling than even the knifing in Psycho (1960). I expect this loss of sexual identity may be the most unnerving part of a genuinely frightening movie, by which Hollywood's prison films pale in comparison.

The performances in film version of Short Eyes are perhaps some of the best I've seen. Short Eyes, in prison slang, means child molester. The whole play revolves on a white pedophile Clark Davis interacting in a prison whose majority are Puerto Ricans and Blacks, and Davis' interaction with Juan who attempts to come to terms with Davis' need for sex with children.

There are several memorable characters such as the very young and tender Julio, known as Cupcakes by the prisoners, who is the target of unwanted homosexual attention by several, if not all, prisoners. El Raheem is a strong black man, perhaps a Black Panther, who studies the Koran all day long and acts on his feelings of anger towards white people. Longshoe Murphy is a tough young Irish. And of course Clark Davis and Juan, who are the main characters of the play.

Pinero, who plays GoGo in his the film version of his play, wrote this play while in Sing Sing prison at around 1974 for armed robbery, and first was performed by a cast of prisoners. Short Eyes had a very short success on Broadway.

The only problem of the movie is the cinematography-it is rather boring, especially in this time where special FX of Lord of the Rings is rather common. But there are two or three rather beautiful scenes, one with a prisoner posing in front of a poster. Despite the very dated lackluster cinematography, I wouldn't hesitate to buy this film.

I warn you, beware, this prison drama is not advised for the squeamish. It is brutal, disturbing, nasty. The tale of a young White man falsely accused of a child rape who is sent in jail, just in the middle of Puerto ricains and Black inmates, all aware of what this young man was accused of. With expected results...I repeat, this is a terrific, outstanding movie, and unfortunately unknown from the large audiences. It is a shame because it sounds realistic. I don't think it is inspired from actual events, but I am sure that such things already happened. A milestone in jail stories for me, but underrated for my taste.