Sorry to break it to you but you literally have to face your fears and slaughter them. Otherwise you will live a small life that you do not want. You literally have to view your biggest fears and attack them head on. You have to fall into the abyss to find your way out. The easy path does not exist. There is no get out of jail free card. You have to allow yourself to die a spiritual death over and over again in order to reinvent yourself into the person you are actually supposed to be. And you have to be painfully honest with yourself and the people around you. It’s horrible but it’s truly the only way.
ohhh yes loved this movie ! thought it was directed so well and was beautifully shot. i think one of my favourite shots is the one of dee sitting in the walkway watching the other prisoners go by. i think this captured the essence of the movie (and its commentary around masculinity and society) so well ! performing bravado and taking up space while simultaneously looking so insecure and on edge (and all the subsequent events that show the detrimental cost of performing this version of masculinity in this microcosm) .also excuse me because idk film speak but cal mcmau’s choice zoom out in sudden jumps rather than a gradual zoom out was so effective here because it felt like he was showing how dee’s place in the world is actually so small .cal mcmau ur mind !!!! tom blyth conveyed this so well i thought .also loved the shots of them partying just visually captivating
i thought david jonsson and tom blyth were incredible!!! id only seen jonsson in long walk before and although he didnt have the opportunity to show much range (everything was a lot more subtle in this role) its crazy that this is the same actor. tom blyth was fantastic too (only seen him in hunger games before) he created so much tension in whichever scene he was in
i do wish there was a little more to the story but i do understand why it was shot only in the prison and i thought this was highly effective in creating this visceral experience. it captures the extreme claustrophobia but also this sense of liminality .e.g taylor and his 13 yr sentence which he had spent numbing himself and becoming a shell of a person and just existing in suspension. contrasted with the explosiveness of dee’s character, his imminent release, and taylor snapping back into reality as a result
also the prison hierarchies are so central to this story and it was interesting to see how theyre deadly serious within the walls of the prison but simultaneously completely meaningless because prison isnt real life. again constrasting taylor w dee who has built his whole identity and internalised this power structure that only exists within a context that doesnt translate outside . even though he tries +how this applies to other facets of society .im thinking of foucault and his concept of biopower and how the prisoners are essentially recreating the mechanisms of control + surveillance that are characteristic of these institutions .it makes u feel sympathy for dee in the end .taylor is easier to sympathise with .
they built up the tension well but i wish they had had a better score!!! i think the music would have really enhanced the movie. thinking specifically of the substance here and how the audio carried the experience .being that both films are minimalistic when it comes to setting ,characters and story
i am still getting acquainted with the price of things since moving out and apparently our gas bill was extremely low for feb since i barely turned on the heating because idk how much it costs so now i am getting told off by my flatmate's 70 year old mother who lives all the way in brazil because she thinks i will freeze to death
