Director: Greg Kwedar
Cast: Colman Domingo, Clarence Maclin, Sean San Jose
Rating: (M)
★★★★★
REVIEWED BY AMASIO JUTEL
Sing Sing (Rialto), directed by Greg Kwedar, is a triumph of humanity. The soul-filled portrait of the maximum-security prison’s rehabilitative theatre programme is an innovative, artful, wonder of cinematic storytelling.
Founded in 1996, Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) is a non-profit arts programme in which prisoners participate in theatre, collaborating to make art. Much of the film is made up of former participants in the programme.
Adapted from real-life events, Sing Sing portrays two men, Divine G (Colman Domingo) and Divine Eye (Clarence Maclin), who find each other while putting on a time-travel, absurdist-comedy play. The film isn’t interested in big set pieces; each in the series of emotional vignettes contain profound interpersonal dynamics — about the people, not the audience. This is mirrored at the cinematic level, with intimacy and authenticity portrayed in the handheld, close-up camera work.
Divine G is a wrongfully imprisoned man who writes, directs, and acts in RTA. Played by Domingo, a theatrical actor and a brilliant performer, with the capacity to go big and small, his nuanced character is outshone by the soul and quietude of his counterpart, Divine Eye.
Clarence Maclin is an actor who was previously part of RTA, and much of the story is adapted from his experiences in prison. Hard work and hard-boiled, Maclin has the demanding task of transforming from tough into soulful. As Divine G notes, the easiest task in acting is to play angry, it is far more difficult to play hurt.
