3º – Hunger (Steve McQueen, 2008)
We will follow a leader of prisoners from an Irish prison who is planning a hunger strike in place, seeking some of his ideals. The film gains its substance by bringing this painful process of man in the midst of this strike, with its bodily and psychological changes. Using a slower pace to tell his story, his director, the great Steve McQueen, creates a compendium of truly memorable scenes, taking advantage of the unique figure of his protagonist, the actor Michael Fassbender.
2º – Bronson (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2008)
The film brings in its plot the turbulent coexistence between Michael Petersen, a violent and uncontrollable man, and the prison system of his country. Initially having to serve only seven years for a robbery, the man ends up spending several decades in prison due to his extreme behavior, even representing a major problem for the prisons he passes through. Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, ‘Bronson’ is a film that, like its protagonist, moves in an intense way, presenting the spectator with intermittent graphic violence.
1º – Birdman of Alcatraz (John Frankenheimer, 1962)
A prisoner with an aggressive temperament ends up getting involved in a tragedy and killing a guard accidentally. Now with a life sentence, the man will have to discover a new meaning to his life, making sure he will never be free again. Director John Frankenheimer’s masterpiece, ‘Birdman of Alcatraz’ is a drama that will surely take several tears away from you during your execution. Honestly, the story explains the figure of time as something cruel to the human being, shows how there is the possibility of changes in an individual and also reiterates the stony aspect of grief (intrinsic to the figure of a prison director). It is also worth mentioning that this film would never stand out as a masterpiece without the impacting and irreproachable performances of Burt Lancaster and Karl Malden, starring in one of the most beautiful rivalries in the history of cinema.
