Just had to add in another / my review of this, as seeing most of the others here, I can be contrarian and reason, no way is one of the best of the WIP genre, even more so in that it is supposed to be so good, because it was directed by a future Oscar winner; coz truthfully, it's simply not: in fact, other than one tracking shot along the various inmates' cells, I couldn't find one other interesting cinematic flourish; indeed, on the whole, it is tedious and most of the acting is barely (literally, often) perfunctory: even legendary B. Steele, with only merely flashing her large eyes behind a huge pair of specs, seems to be more or less phoning (wheeling!) in her performance.
Perhaps the only reason to endure this - besides to show future Oscar winners can easily start out so poorly - is to listen out for some stupidly daft dialogue, since Demme was also the screenwriter, and to note the either lazy or arrogant anachronistic costuming: like in beginning, the prisoners decked out in top class dresses, no less of all penitentiary things, and clothing e.g. our heroine newcomer, Erica Gavin, with what looks like a Hermes scarf, and another 'exercising' in the yard, in bright scarlet dress, which if not enough in itself, who then also sports a double string of pearls on! Simply ludicrous!
Then how it's supposed to be some sort of feminist fave, I don't fathom: other than the 'inmates' (surprise, surprise / plot spoiler warning, do not read any further .. ?) escape - that mainly thanks to the ridiculously poor shooting abilities of the warders e.g. check how their kneel and take careful aim, virtually never once hit the female escapee targets, but conversely, the latter, wildly, blindly shooting a handgun from behind a truck, hits both targets square on = I couldn't discern any feminism triumphs over evil patriarchal suppressors at all.
If you want revisionist feminist takes on these ostensibly misogynistic offerings, you get better in the genre's 'Isla' series and even 'Last Orgy of the Gestapo', wherein oppressive patriarchal regime guys get their comeuppance in those.
More or less useless, except for to see how future Oscar winner started out so ineptly.
Perhaps the only reason to endure this - besides to show future Oscar winners can easily start out so poorly - is to listen out for some stupidly daft dialogue, since Demme was also the screenwriter, and to note the either lazy or arrogant anachronistic costuming: like in beginning, the prisoners decked out in top class dresses, no less of all penitentiary things, and clothing e.g. our heroine newcomer, Erica Gavin, with what looks like a Hermes scarf, and another 'exercising' in the yard, in bright scarlet dress, which if not enough in itself, who then also sports a double string of pearls on! Simply ludicrous!
Then how it's supposed to be some sort of feminist fave, I don't fathom: other than the 'inmates' (surprise, surprise / plot spoiler warning, do not read any further .. ?) escape - that mainly thanks to the ridiculously poor shooting abilities of the warders e.g. check how their kneel and take careful aim, virtually never once hit the female escapee targets, but conversely, the latter, wildly, blindly shooting a handgun from behind a truck, hits both targets square on = I couldn't discern any feminism triumphs over evil patriarchal suppressors at all.
If you want revisionist feminist takes on these ostensibly misogynistic offerings, you get better in the genre's 'Isla' series and even 'Last Orgy of the Gestapo', wherein oppressive patriarchal regime guys get their comeuppance in those.
More or less useless, except for to see how future Oscar winner started out so ineptly.