Stir

It's not that bad, i actually 1st watched this in the late 80s when local video shop closed I ended up with scores of tapes. Got that bar tender from cocktail .

As many Australian films tend to be it's low budget but it tells a story kinda . Some can act some struggle . It's worth a watch if you have a spare 90 minutes or so.

The title pretty much sums up, the real life tale of prisoners pushing back, at a less than uninviting prison system, with some real nasties. We see and understand, how the cons finally erupt, by way of a torching of their much loved jail. This is one of those finer Aussie dramas, written by a real life crim, actual eyes, there when the whole Bathurst insanity went down. The actors who breathe such life into their characters are wonderful, heralded of course by it's strong lead. A wonderful, entertaining 100 minutes, in a well realized and structured story, with great discipline to detail.

Directed by Stephen Wallace and written by Bob Jewson, Stir stars Bryan Brown, Max Phipps, Dennis Miller, Gary Waddell and Phil Motherwell. Music is by Cameron Allan and cinematography by Geoff Burton.

Stir is a tough Australian prison drama based on the real life prison riot that occurred at Bathurst Gaol 1974. Writer Bob Jewson was an inmate at the time and draws on his observations for the screenplay.

The standard rules of prison dramas are adhered to here, sadistic guards, homosexuality (though tenderly handled and not involving rape), poor conditions etc. Where Stir lifts itself into the upper echelons of similar genre pictures is with the characterisations, they are credibly written and performed. There are a number of human interest stories running through the plot, none of which involve outsiders, which is a bonus as we all are cemented in this concrete and iron jungle. While the mounting tension is unbearable at times, headed up by the terrific Brown who is pumped with snake eyed hardness and coiled spring intensity.

Criminally under seen, Stir is as tough as steel toe-capped boots and demands to be labelled as essential viewing for those interested in penal based movies. 8/10

This film is based around the wave of rioting and unrest that swept through jails in NSW in the 1970s over officer brutality and generally poor treatment. It depicts the incredible violence of the time without becoming excessively graphic and touches on situational homosexuality and other aspects of prison life realistically.

For anyone that is interested in seeing a side of Australia that doesn't get a look in that often in cinema, this is well worth a look.

This film is a powerful indictment of the brutality of the Australian prison system in the 1970s, where prisoners were regularly savagely beaten in order to instil fear into the prisoners.

Bryan Brown gives another outstanding performance as 'China' Jackson, a man who has gone out on a limb to condemn the system in a television expose, but who finds himself back in the same jail, and must try to survive amidst the violence of an unfair and uncaring system.

Max Phipps is also impressive as a warder who feels guilty about how they treat the prisoners, but who fears what would happen if the prisoners were not cowed by fear.

The film is not an easy watch at times, and there is not a woman to be seen in the film, but it is a convincing argument for prison reform.