The most wanted man in Wakefield prison is the warden!
Plot Summary
The new warden of a small prison farm in Arkansas tries to clean it up of corruption after initially posing as an inmate.
Run Time
132 min
Aspect Ratio
1.85 : 1
Genre
Drama
Language
English
Keyword
Corruption, Prison, Abuse, Prison Farm, Murder
Movie Rating
Sound Mix
Mono
Colour
Color
Film Type
Feature
Film Class
Prison Film, Docudrama
Themes
Fighting the System, Whistleblowers, Prison Life
Tones
Gritty, Matter-of-Fact, Confrontational, Forceful
Mood
Food for Thought
Has Detailed Data (New)
1, 2, 3
Count - Awards
2
US Box Office
37000000
Release Date
20/06/1980
Country
USA
Country Of Origin
USA
Wikipedia Plot
A mysterious man (Redford) arrives at a prison as an inmate and witnesses rampant abuse and corruption, including open and endemic sexual assault, torture, worm-ridden diseased food, insurance fraud and a doctor charging inmates for care, amongst other things. During a dramatic standoff, he reveals himself to be the new prison warden, Henry Brubaker, to the amazement of both prisoners and officials alike.
With ideals and vision, he attempts to reform the prison, with an eye towards prisoner rehabilitation and human rights. He recruits several long-time prisoners, including Larry Lee Bullen (Keith) and Richard "Dickie" Coombes (Kotto), to assist him with his reformation. Their efforts improve the prison conditions, but his stance inflames several corrupt officials on the prison board who have profited from graft for decades. When he discovers multiple unmarked graves of prisoners on the property, he attempts to unravel the mystery, leading to political scandal. When a trustee realizes that he might be held accountable for killing another inmate, he decides to make a run for it, the resulting gunfight proves to be the final ammunition that the prison board (acting with the tacit approval of the governor) needs to fire Brubaker.
A statement before the credits explains that two years after Brubaker was fired, twenty four inmates sued the prison. The court ruled that the treatment of the prisoners was unconstitutional and the prison system was ultimately reformed. Meanwhile, the governor was not reelected.
The movie is based on the real-life experiences of Thomas Murton, author of the novel upon which the movie is based and one-time warden in the Arkansas state prison system. Much of the squalid conditions, violence and corruption depicted in the film was the subject of a 1970 federal court case, Holt v. Sarver, in which the federal court ruled that Arkansas' prison system violated inmates' constitutional rights, and ordered reform.
[edit]Locations
Filmed at The Junction City Prison Farm in Junction City, Ohio, Bremen, Ohio, New Lexington, Ohio, and at the Fairfield County Fairgrounds in Lancaster, Ohio.
Wikipedia Text
Brubaker is an American 1980 film directed by Stuart Rosenberg about a prison in distress and the Warden Henry Brubaker (Robert Redford) who attempts to reform the system.
Post a Comment