Review of Music from the Big House (2010) by Nick O — 15 May 2012

Music from the Big House was a unique look into how prisoners deal with extremely long sentences. Rita Chiarelli had once visited Angola prison due to its rich musical history and was astonished to find how much musical talent still existed there.

She returned a few years later to put on concert with a few bands within the prison, this concert is the main focus of the film. The editing of the film does something good though, instead of making it just an hour and a half long concert video, the music numbers are separated by interviews with the inmates as they explain how they personally became interested in music growing up.

They then go on to explain how music is used to keep their sanity while stuck in Angola prison. For many of the inmates we meet music has been their saving grace, keeping them inspired and hopeful. What the film does well is keep the inmates seeming like ordinary people, it makes you care about them and hear and feel their plights.

You end up feeling like these are defiantly changed men by the end of the film, then there is the reveal where you see all the inmatesâ(TM) crimes. Overall the film is extremely enjoyable, the music is fabulous and the artistic talent coming from those individuals in Angola prison is irrefutable.