Review of Starred Up (2014) by Aslyn E — 05 Aug 2014

Just finished watching Starred-up. What else can I say, Starred up is excellent, so real, no soundtrack. I was re-visited by all the questions I have ever asked myself about prison, about the purpose of the system; how do you rehabilitate and punish at the same time? Do the circles on this Venn diagram ever intersect? As administrators, how do you maintain order without somehow participating in the very illicit trades that create that order, even if it's just through complicity? How much tolerance do I owe to someone who can't control his anger and is dangerous because of it? Should I wish for him to be 'warehoused' forever, or for his rehabilitation and at what cost to 'justice'.

For all that he has been through, for all the pain and the abuse, for all that society has failed to protect him from, how many extraneous individuals should continue to pay the price? Do I even care? Or am I more about living in a world where I don't have to navigate people like this? So many questions, probably a little scarred to be honest, and a little scared.

People who come out of the other side of systems like this, for better or for worse, are really not like 'us'. It's probably the fear of the monsters that we create and a bitter thirst for retribution that means that even as prisons get more cramped, and conditions get worse, we will all tacitly acquiesce, because a motivated man with no fear and no future is society's worst nightmare.

This film is ultimately thought provoking, art on sticks.