Short Eyes

Child molester ''Short Eyes'' (Davidson) gets what's coming to him from his disgusted fellow inmates. Gripping, graphic, violent film was shot in the Tombs, the NYC prison. Powerful acting. Rated R for violence and profanity.

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.

Based on a Tony nominated play, this obscure film version is crude, tough stuff about life in the NY Tombs, as the Manhattan Detention Center was known then. And it is an appropriate name for a terrible, seemingly corrupt institution. Despite the acclaim, the play only ran for 80 performances, so it wasn't a hit and surely this grainy little seen film wasn't either, but it's well worth watching if you're up for it. It has a slim storyline of a young white pedophile entering for the first time a facility of mostly hardened Hispanic and Black prisoners and how they do or don't accept him. I say slim storyline as most of the film is simply showing us life in this prison, the inmates and their relationships with each other. It ain't pretty. Most of the people in this all male cast have multiple acting credits, which surprised me as they all seem like the real deal. There is not a performance that doesn't ring true. Miguel Pinero was a prisoner at one time, and I suspect so were most of the cast, and while there he wrote this play though his life was short. He also appears in this film and like the rest, is very authentic. I don't know if this film really has a message other than stay the hell out of jail!

Short Eyes is directed by Robert M. Young and written by Miguel Piñero who adapts from his own play. It stars Bruce Davison, Jose Perez, Nathan George, Don Blakely, Curtis Mayfield and Shawn Elliott.

The Tombs, A House of Detention in New York City receives a new prisoner, white middle classed Clark Davis (Davison). He's charged with raping a young girl, quickly identified as a Short Eyes (paedophile) by the other inmates and lined up for hostility from the off. Only one prisoner is prepared to engage Clark in conversation, but with atmosphere on the block already bubbling at breaking point, Clark's innocence or guilt is most likely irrelevant.

One of the most sedate but effective prison based movies out there, Short Eyes comes with realism, intelligence and a conscience. Piñero's play was itself a success, so source was reliable for treatment, what transpires is a tale of prisoners co-existing under trying circumstances. But it's a hornets nest slowly being stirred by pent up sexual frustrations, egos, racial indifference and religion, once the suspected paedophile wanders into the equation you can literally see the tension starting to rise to the surface. Yet director and writer don't go for cliché prison shocks involving violence and rape, they gnaw away at the viewers by letting the hatred and break down of moral codes build by way of rich characterisations and dialogue. It helps greatly that the makers have started the picture off by giving us a solid 20 minutes of character build ups, thus letting us get to know the inhabitants and their place of incarceration.

Unity is powerful, but it can also be ugly.

Some of the monologue's are utterly compelling, delivered with extraordinary conviction by a cast keeping the material real. When the excellent Davison, who I applaud for taking on the sort of role many actors would run from, gets to pour out his words to Juan (Perez), it's most uncomfortable viewing, yet also it's heartbreaking as well. It was here that it dawned on me that Piñero's (himself an ex-convict) characters are not prison film stereotypes, they are complex human beings, neither sympathetic or villainous, and that's a real treat in this particular genre of film. The photography is purposely low-key and the music, mostly arranged by Soul maestro Curtis Mayfield (who also co-stars) eases around the prison walls. Both Mayfield and Freddy Fender get to sing and this acts as means to subdue the pressure cooker like mood.

This is not a prison film for those that need animalistic violence, this is very much a thinking persons prison piece. What violence there is is calmly constructed and acted by director and cast alike. The pivotal moment shocks, and rightly so, but here's the kicker, it doesn't shock as much as the monologue that closes out this most compelling and excellent of movies. 9/10

Maybe the best prison film ever made because its origin is people who were actually in prison, most notably its main author, Miguel Piñero. The film deals with the interrelationship between the prisoners of a cell block. That's what most of the film is, the observation of these men and their culture. The plot of the film is about a new arrival (Bruce Davison) who has been arrested as a suspect on a child molestation charge. He's never been in prison, and he's very afraid, which, of course, he should be. Short Eyes doesn't make any easy choices at all, which makes for a particularly uncomfortable movie to watch. But it also makes it one of the gutsiest and most important films ever made, and it's one of the best movies I've ever seen. It's one of only two movies that I've ever watched twice right in a row. Well, the second time was with commentary by the director (and another man, whose participation in the film I don't exactly know), because I wanted to know exactly how this film came about, and to confirm my guess that there was some kind of inside track to prison life behind the scenes. There was far more than I could have guessed; the commentary also ranks as one of the best I've ever listened to. A masterpiece.