From Chaplin’s The Adventurer to the chilling modern TV series The Night Of, prison/convict films have been one of the most enduring cinematic settings. The psychological and sociological complexities of incarceration capture our imagination. Loss of freedom as punishment seems a definition of living-hell. What would you do if cell doors roared shut behind you? We will examine and discuss four such possibilities, all offered on streaming home TV channels like Netflix: Cool Hand Luke (1967), The Shawshank Redemption (1994) The Green Mile (1999) and The Experiment (2010). The final film is based on the 1971 Stanford University experiment on prison behavior and was directed by Davis-raised Paul Scheuring.
Note: Students must rent or stream the films to watch at home prior to each session.