Murder in the First

A film set at Alcatraz. Henri Young went inside for a small theft. He stole forty-one dollars, and because the offence counted as federal he was sent to Alcatraz. He takes part in an escape attempt. It fails and he is put in isolation as punishment. The cell is underground. Dark, cold, without light, and he is kept there a long time. When he comes out he kills a man in the mess hall. The victim is the prisoner who informed on the escape. A case is opened. A newly qualified lawyer is assigned. Stamphill is chosen because he is expected to lose. Nobody wants effort spent on it. From there the film becomes a courtroom drama. The lawyer accepts the killing but changes who is responsible; he wants the prison administration in the dock. The warden is called as a witness. At the centre of the trial is solitary confinement itself. What the narrative is interested in is not murder but punishment: its argument is what keeping a person in the dark for years turns him into. The lawyer's line runs in parallel. The further into the case he goes the more he loses his career and his family. The acting is the film's strength. Kevin Bacon carries the part physically and his scenes without speech are the most effective. The film's historical accuracy is contested. The real case proceeded differently, and both the length of the confinement and the outcome of the trial were exaggerated; the production was criticised for it. Christian Slater, Kevin Bacon, Gary Oldman and Embeth Davidtz are in the cast. Marc Rocco directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes courtroom drama and prison narratives. Who it is not for: anyone expecting fidelity to the record; the film noticeably alters the events and presses too hard on the feeling.