The Work

This is not a documentary, it's a regular movie. Actors do their job very well, but to call this a documentary is such a lie.. Everything is scripted, all the smallest details are well thought out and worked on. A lot of emotions are very unrealistic, some actions are just not how humans react or behave themselves. Well, this was done so that viewers would be deeply touched, shocked and so on, and it's ok. The movie is really nice for those who believe in everything they see. But don't be fooled - every little detail is scripted and actors do a good job. Reminds me of Blair's witch somewhat.

The work is a 4-day program for convicts in prison where prisoners spends 4 day trying to heal their emotional wories that have been buried deep down all their lives. The gather round in groups and talk about their problems and wuth the help of their fellow convicts and facilitators appointed for thie sake they try to resolve their deep seated problems and come out healed emotionally and with more hope for what is there to come. Seems like an effective program cause it is quite important to let out what's inside and face those bitter memories to come out cleansed of past sins on the other end and ready to tackle life in new frame of mind.

Watching what this group of people go through in 4 days was a unforgettable experience. This group of men provided so much support, so much love. The inmates that participate in this program managed to change their life completely. They became people that I would love to be with and learn from. I just cried all the way through. Each one of the participants carries his wounds, the wounds that drove some of them to violence. Each one of the participating inmates used the time in prison to become a better person. If they can do it we all can do it. This brings so much hope. It is done brilliantly. I admire the outside group of men for the willingness to experience this and fully participate. I wish there were groups like this in all prisons and also for women.

'The Work' was an extraordinary experience exploring individual personal extremes of violent feelings towards others and oneself. The group therapy sessions with three facilitators and about 10 violent prison inmates resonated excruciating memories, with individual outbursts requiring intense therapeutic physical restraint by many peers. Each prisoner's soul searching self disclosures clearly presented to all viewers the fact that violent hatred of others has its source in one's self-hatred. I have experienced these revelations working in therapeutic holds with violent hateful severely disturbed adolescents at Tri-County Youth in Northampton, MA. The notion that hatreds of others are acquired but unrecognized self-hatreds has ramifications beyond group therapy to the world at large. Racism, genocide, wars, colonialism, slavery and much beyond are at their source unrecognized self-hatreds. Christ's forgotten admonitions, 'Don't judge!' and 'Have empathy for your enemies' ring true worldwide as our forthcoming non-violent future. Violence was virtually reduced by half in the 20th century. We're but a few centuries away from our thousands of years of peace.

The Work was extremely well-received during its world premiere at Austin SXSW Film Festival where it won the Grand Jury Prize in Documentary Feature Competition. This is one of the most intense films that you will ever see and it literally takes your breath away. It is follows several prisoners – many serving long sentences for violent, often gang-related, crimes - in a group therapy program at Folsom Prison over a four-day period in which they push each other to confront their demons. They discuss their betrayals which often involve deep-seated and painful issues in their family lives. They confront each physically and emotionally. They open up the darkest corners of their lives so that outside observers can understand that much of the anger that made them criminals comes from deep well-springs of personal suffering and often abuse.

Indirectly, this film asks a very deep question about our criminal justice system: Is it supposed to warehouse and punish offenders or is it supposed to rehabilitate them to return to society? If it is the former it is doing so at a very great cost. If it is the latter than we need to invest in programs like this so that we can return these men to as productive members of society. This film shows us what rehabilitation looks like and subtly makes that argument. We need a national conversation about how the criminal justice system is failing and about how we can begin to repair it. We have begun discussing some aspects of this complex problem including reconsidering the "War on Drugs," but we also need to be discussing how to rehabilitate those currently imprisoned as well. I hope that it gains distribution so that a wider audience can see this powerful and compelling film and begin this conversation about the criminal justice system.