Short Eyes (1977)

One of my all time favorites.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The performances in film version of Short Eyes are perhaps some of the best I've seen. Short Eyes, in prison slang, means child molester. The whole play revolves on a white pedophile Clark Davis interacting in a prison whose majority are Puerto Ricans and Blacks, and Davis' interaction with Juan who attempts to come to terms with Davis' need for sex with children.There are several memorable characters such as the very young and tender Julio, known as Cupcakes by the prisoners, who is the target of unwanted homosexual attention by several, if not all, prisoners. El Raheem is a strong black man, perhaps a Black Panther, who studies the Koran all day long and acts on his feelings of anger towards white people. Longshoe Murphy is a tough young Irish. And of course Clark Davis and Juan, who are the main characters of the play.Pinero, who plays GoGo in his the film version of his play, wrote this play while in Sing Sing prison at around 1974 for armed robbery, and first was performed by a cast of prisoners. Short Eyes had a very short success on Broadway.The only problem of the movie is the cinematography-it is rather boring, especially in this time where special FX of Lord of the Rings is rather common. But there are two or three rather beautiful scenes, one with a prisoner posing in front of a poster. Despite the very dated lackluster cinematography, I wouldn't hesitate to buy this film.

The Puerto Rican playwright Miguel Pinero (no relation to the English playwright Sir Arthur Wing Pinero) was originally a career criminal who turned his life around while serving an armed-robbery sentence in Sing Sing. In an inmates' playwriting workshop, Pinero wrote the brilliant drama "Short Eyes" which deservedly was produced on Broadway. A talented actor as well as a gifted writer, Pinero worked on other projects as well before dying tragically young of complications from his early years of drugs abuse.The movie version of "Short Eyes" was filmed in New York City's 19th-century prison the Tombs (NOT Rikers Island), which was closed at the time of the film's production but has since then been re-opened for business. Many of the extras and bit players in this film are actual inmates who were serving minimum-security sentences in the NYC prison system while this movie was made.As one might expect, this movie's depiction of prison life is jarringly accurate ... as is the foul language. All those prison movies of the 1940s featured Cagney or Bogart in an all-white prison population. In "Short Eyes", we see a prison population of blacks and hispanics (and black prison guards) in which white inmates (all working-class) are the racial minority. The inmates live in racially-divided conclaves. A black prisoner named Omar has converted to Islam, and he harangues the other blacks for being slaves to the white man. The leader of the white inmates is "Longshoe" Charlie Murphy (a standout performance by actor Joseph Carberry). The guards crack down on violence, but occasionally a guard will violate regulations and allow two inmates to brawl for a few minutes so that all the inmates will blow off some aggression which might otherwise lead to a riot.The subject of prison sex is dealt with tactfully in a brief shower scene. A young virginal hispanic inmate has been given the unwanted nickname Cupcakes. When he tries to take a shower, a predatory older inmate named Paco tries to seduce Cupcakes. What happens next ... or rather what DOESN'T happen ... makes this the least realistic scene in the film.The other outlet for the prisoners is music. We see Tex-Mex singer Freddy Fender as a Mexican inmate, leading his cellblock neighbours in a jam session. Curtis Mayfield also does double duty as an actor/musician here. There's a weird dance number which (unlike anything in 'Jailhouse Rock') is very plausible in this cellblock context.The prisoners are tolerant of one another's crimes: murderers, rapists and thieves are all accepted here. Now a new prisoner arrives: a middle-class white man named Clark (brilliantly played by Bruce Davison). Figuring this first-timer is here for a white-collar crime, Longshoe tells Clark the basics of prison routine. But then a guard reveals that Clark is a "short eyes": he's been charged with molesting a child. This is the one crime that these hardened inmates won't tolerate. Clark is now a pariah, and there's a harrowing scene in which the other inmates break down his dignity ... stealing his cigarettes and bullying him into surrendering the gold chain his mother gave him. Clark has only been charged with a crime, not convicted, but all the inmates are convinced he's guilty. One of the warders has a daughter who was molested ... not by Clark, but the guard is perfectly willing to scapegoat Clark for another man's crime.There's a riveting scene between Davison and Jose Perez as a trusty named Juan, who questions Clark about his guilt. Clark admits that he's a child molester, but he swears that he can't remember whether or not he committed the specific assault for which he's been arrested. Juan is sceptical about this. In a stark monologue, Clark describes one of his assaults on an underage girl.SPOILERS COMING RIGHT NOW. Because the white prisoners are outnumbered and out-toughed, Longshoe is under pressure to prove he's as hard as the leaders of the black and hispanic groups. While the other prisoners cheer him on, Longshoe grabs a prison knife (a razor blade with a toothbrush handle) and he slits Clark's throat. Before the guards arrive, the knife is whisked away... to be kept handy for other occasions. In an epilogue, a warder informs the inmates that an investigation has cleared Clark: he didn't commit the crime for which he was arrested. The hard faces of the inmates show they don't care: Clark was a "short eyes", and that's the one unpardonable crime in this place."Short Eyes" is a taut and brilliant movie, with only a couple of scenes that don't quite convince. I'll rate this movie 9 out of 10.

"Short Eyes" has an authentic look and feel, but suffers from an unfocused script, confusing dialogue (racial tensions run high in this prison....and the movie begs for subtitles!) and static direction. You know that something is wrong when the most compelling scene in a movie is the sordid confessional monologue of a child-molester. (**)

Short Eyes is yet another 70's flick lost until recently in the world of obscure VHS,various licensing and grey market bootlegs. However, it is one of the best dramas of the decade and deserved the DVD re-release.The story centers about the denizens of "The Tombs", the Men's House of Detention in Manhattan, where it was filmed. Like many other prison-centered scripts, it fleshes out the microcosmic aspect of a isolated society and provides the alternate racial existence on "the inside" (where white is the minority). The story establishes the environment inside, outlining the groups and nearly making the life seem manageable. Then a white middle-class inmate arrives and is quickly exposed by a guard as a accused child molester, or short eyes. The group at large quickly responds as we see what this society really deems offensive.Along the way we experience religious presence, soulful expression, prison hierarchy, sexual intimidation, mental coercion, utter rage, blinding fear, confiding, alienation and displacement. In other words, the range of emotions from several characters displays to the viewer the depth and severity of how living in a world where entropy is the only constant. There is a passage in the movie where the complete ambivalence of every person becomes evident; there are no longer any allies or any semblance of trust when it is exposed that everyone will take what they want when possible. The guards are an important part of the population but there is no real opposition there- no protagonists to speak of, only a film of corruption over the cruel survivalist scene. Stirring, impassioned material.While there are no big stars in this, an independent adaptation of Miguel Pinero's early 70's play, it still has some amazing performances. Jose Perez does a stellar job as the one prisoner who can tolerate speaking with the 'short eyes'. Prolific character actor Bruce Davison is outstanding as the conflicted and confused molester, who cannot weather this change of environment. Nathan George, a great character actor who remained busy in the 70's, is in fine form here. Joseph Carberry is the central white inmate and wears his hate and mistrust as a badge of identity. And of course, there is no forgetting the cameos by the late Curtis Mayfield and Freddy Fender. In one group scene, Fender engages in a song ("Break The Dawn") captivating the entire population, an amazing slow soulful track that is matched by the following Mayfield song, "Do Do Wap is Strong In Here". Two smoky, slow-burn tracks sung by two legends that literally soothes the savagery here. A rewindable, unforgettable classic scene.In an extra note, superb modern Latino actor Luis Guzman appears as an extra here in his first film appearance. Look for him in the above Mayfield/Fender song sequence and in a few other scenes, sporting a blowout afro.There is ample reason why this is often referred to as a 'prison/horror film' but its really a stark, tense drama. Coupled with the Benjamin Bratt-lead Pinero, this is one of the best ways to get a taste of the lost genius of Miguel Pinero. The DVD issue of Short Eyes features a commentary track by the director along with Leon Ichaso, director of Pinero. Although there is much left open about this masterpiece, the commentary truly adds a lot of miscellaneous info that fans like myself would appreciate. Not to be missed.