“You want to be whole.” A couple of hours before viewing Clemency, I took in an excellent photo exhibition focusing on walls. That influenced how I understood this powerful film. The obvious reason is that the film takes place mostly within a prison, but that is only one of the kinds of walls we encounter…. [Read More]
Papillon – We Know It’s Not Rehabilitation
In 1931 Paris, Henri Charrière (nicknamed ‘Papillon’, or ‘Pappy’ because of the butterfly tattoo on his chest), makes his living as a criminal, stealing jewelry and the like. During an evening of debauchery, Pappy (Charlie Hunnum) witnesses some of the criminals he works under beating a man. The next morning, police arrive at his door,… [Read More]
Papillon – From Savagery to Resurrection
Perhaps that is why when he finally found that new life and wrote his autobiographical books, they became bestsellers and prompted film adaptations. The riveting story of the absolute savagery and inhumanity within that prison setting eventually shifts to a story to hope and fulfillment.
The Work – Getting Inside on the Inside
Raw emotion is the driving force in the documentary The Work. In California’s Folsom State Prison, some of the inmates take part in group therapy to try to rehabilitate themselves. Twice a year, people from outside the prison come to take part in a four-day intensive group therapy experience.
The Evil Within (and Without): The Story of God (Ep. 5)
“I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing,” the Apostle Paul says. So where does evil come from?
