MovieChat Forums > In the Name of the Father (1994) Discussion > Does it seem the prison life was made se...

Does it seem the prison life was made seem easier than it should?

posted 11 years ago by Frequency270
5 replies | jump to latest

Other than the fact that they were spending 15 years in prison, with a couple of relatively minor(in the cinematic demonstration sense) incidents, it seems like they didn't display the kind of roughness that Conlon et al were exposed to, defecating and urinating in food, exposed to beatings by the prison guards.
This is a great movie, but I think more should have been made of the imprisonment than simply time lost.

Damion Crowley
All complaints about my post go to Helen Waite.

[–] cthulhulurks 11 years ago

How is it a great movie if it's not true to the facts?

my vote history:
http://www.imdb.com/user/ur13767631/ratings

[–] yusef-ghanima 11 years ago

i investigated prisons in an arab country, i would say they were reasonable, did you miss the guy giving a kiss to daniel, they don't have to show you every thing.

[–] mikeyg24 11 years ago

You're right imagination is required but in reality Gerry Conlon suffers violent PTSD as a result of his abuses yet the movie does seem to give the impression they're taking prison life in it's stride.

Yours sincerely, General Joseph Liebgott

[–] intofilm 11 years ago

One reason I hadn't watched this film until now was I didn't want to see a lot of police and prison brutality. Having worked in a prison, I have seen enough of that. However, I was amazed at how well it showed everyone being treated. There were many places where the guards were so restrained or even kind, compared to what you would find in the U.S.

[–] TheMonkofDestiny 10 years ago

(I'm merely speculating) but it could be that the reason a lot of the harsher circumstances the Conlons faced in prison weren't shown was that it wasn't that type of film. It didn't need to dip into the needless agony or go into exploitative territory to get the point across that they weren't just doing a multi-year stretch at a resort for business execs or something similar. Most viewing the film are likely to walk away with the knowledge that their imprisonment was certainly hell on them.