Directed by: Greg Kwedar
Starring: Colman Domingo, Clarence Maclin, Paul Raci, Sean San Jose, David Giraudy, Patrick Griffin, Sean Dino Johnson, and John “Divine G” Whitfield
Runtime: 105 minutes
‘Sing Sing’: This real-life incarceration drama sings with hope and authenticity
“The world expects brothers like you and I to walk in with our heads held down. No, you got to walk in like a king.” – John “Divine G” Whitfield (Colman Domingo)
John “Divine G” Whitfield champions a theatrical stage company. He writes, produces, and performs in live-action plays, and he’s done so for years. John is passionate about his work and enjoys the freedom to showcase his creativity.
Freedom, however, is in limited supply for John and his acting troupe, Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), because the performers are, in fact, incarcerated persons serving sentences at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison, which sits about 40 miles north of New York City.
Director/co-writer Greg Kwedar’s touching drama is an ensemble piece where an assembly of men caucus for a constructive common good to improve themselves and the world by creating art.
Kwedar takes a holistic, expressive approach to convey this story. Throughout the 105-minute runtime, he and cinematographer Pat Scola include dozens of shots that starkly contrast the warm, colorful labor of love in creating theatrical art with the cold, hard truth of incarceration.
A prime example of this cinematic juxtaposition arises in the first act, as close-ups of a delicate, almost-glowing stage curtain with angelic qualities along with an emotional Divine G are soon followed by the RTA players glumly forced into a militaristic-like procession and marching to their cells. Divine G lives in a tiny space with his roommate, Mike Mike (Sean San Jose), in an unassuming concrete corner marked by two doors, B27 and B28, and we don’t know which one houses the two men.
Triumph and joy from the stage morph into anonymity and desolation.
“Sing Sing” lives and breathes in these physical and emotive spaces with barbed wire, towering fences, and intimidating but weathered brick and mortar, retaining the men who routinely recite their acting approaches and lines in small circles, accompanied by smiles, laughter, and frequent confessionals.
(Note that Kwedar and his team filmed the outside of Sing Sing but not inside because the facility is still in service. Instead, they shot indoors at the nearby Downstate Correctional Facility, which properly captured bleak, institutional vibes.)
To tender an authentic RTA presentation, the vast majority of on-screen actors are RTA alumni, including Sean Dino Johnson, Patrick Griffin, David Giraudy, and – in a stunning breakout performance – Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, who also earned a writing credit. In fact, according to the film’s production notes, over 85 percent of the cast are RTA alums. Domingo, San Jose, and Paul Raci (who plays the company’s director, Brent Buell) help anchor the RTA cast to this film production, but Johnson, Griffin, Giraudy, Maclin, and many others steer the narrative with their personal stories. Tales of past acting successes, current wants on the working play - a time-traveling comedy, “Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code” with appearances from Hamlet and Freddy Krueger (yes, that Freddy Krueger!) – caring moments of friendship, reflections on past mistakes, and dreams.
The engaging, intimate reveals and prep sessions that help bring “Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code” from Brent’s paper to life on stage feel organic through Acts I, II, and III, but we also get a bit lost in the timeframe. Now, the end goal is clear, but the individual, personal moments, at times, tend to drift as loose, leisurely storytelling choices that raise questions on the film’s direction in the moment on our way to a hopeful conclusion.
However, not in Divine G’s and Divine Eye’s cases.
Divine G, a long-time RTA veteran, and Divine Eye, a newcomer to the troupe, weave their mentor-pupil thread through the ups and downs of rehearsals and life lessons. Divine Eye, a drug dealer inside these walls, brings an element of contention to this otherwise merry RTA cast. We see G and Brent push and pull Eye to bring out his best for “Mummy’s Code”, but they also know when to limit their efforts to not quell his confidence nor raise his ire.
Maclin, in his first feature film role, stands toe-to-toe and alongside Domingo as they build a budding friendship. Kwedar includes several quiet, emotional scenes where Eye leans on G, while we also hope that G will allow Eye to repay his kindness.
“Sing Sing” is a film about men creating a cohesive bond and introducing tangible, positive change into the universe. That universe includes events within Sing Sing’s stark walls, but these feelings extend outside as so many real-life graduates of the program have not returned to incarceration, breaking an all-too-common cycle.
Does the real-life John “Divine G” Whitfield reach total freedom? You’ll have to stay until the end to discover his fate, and my advice is to wait through the end credits with your head held high.
Jeff’s ranking
3/4 stars
