Brubaker Blu-ray Review
A Idealist Subverts the Penal System
Reviewed by Casey Broadwater, June 12, 2013
The privatized, for-profit prison system that emerged from the War on Drugs in the 1980s has come under increasing scrutiny lately—for contributing
to the sharp spike in incarceration rates—but given the choice between an overcrowded modern correctional facility and the comparatively unregulated,
corruption-rife late 1960s state prison "farm" represented in
Brubaker, most would prefer a long stay in the former to a short one in the latter.
Based on penologist and warden Tom Murton's account of going undercover in an Arkansas prison to expose endemic graft and abuse, the film is a
grimy true life story of idealism confronting the worst in human nature head-on. It was directed by Stuart Rosenberg, who had made a previous prison
movie,
Cool Hand Luke, in 1967—the year in which
Brubaker takes place—and the two films inevitably have a lot in common. The
observation of the prison pecking order. The beatings and hard labor and escape attempts. The dehumanizing and brutalizing effects of serving time.
Where
Cool Hand Luke is a
great film, though,
Brubaker is a merely
good one, less iconic and suspenseful, and more
prone to a kind of cardboard didacticism when it comes to the inherent commentary on the injustices of the justice system. Still, it's a compelling
experience, and—considering the ongoing debate about the role and operation of prisons—it hasn't lost any of its relevancy.
In the same year that he directed the Academy Award-winning
Ordinary People, Robert Redford—the man for whom the phrase "ruggedly
handsome" was invented—stars here as Henry Brubaker, an observant prisoner en route to the Wakefield State Penitentiary. The dilapidated prison is
comprised of a group of barrack buildings huddled in the middle of 16,000 acres of farmland, which the inmates are forced to work, tilling the rocky
ground with picks and growing cash crops that are sold under market price. Where the proceeds go is part of the film's ongoing mystery, as the profits
clearly aren't being funneled back into the prison, a crowded shithole that's quite literally falling apart.
Brubaker arrives and quickly learns the ins and outs of the institution's power structure and corrupt inner economy. Instead of civilian guards, a select
group of privileged "trustee" prisoners—played by Yaphet Kotto (
Alien), Tim McIntire (
American Hot Wax), and Everett McGill (
Twin
Peaks)—lord over the common "ranks," carrying shotguns and wielding leather straps as whips. Prisoners sell their blood to the local doctor for
cash, which they use to buy overpriced sandwiches at the canteen, which otherwise serves a free maggot-addled slop. Rape is a nightly occurrence and
regular beatings keep the troublemakers in line. It's a hard-knock life.
When a crazed death row inmate—Morgan Freeman in a small role—breaks out of his cell and holds another prisoner hostage, Brubaker is forced to
play his hand and reveal that he is, in fact, the new reform warden, hired by the state governor's aide, Lillian Gray (Jane Alexander), who seems to
have a thing for him. Having surreptitiously infiltrated Wakefield—and seen firsthand the myriad abuses of power—Brubaker thinks he knows how to go
about cleaning up the place. He soon learns, however, that the institutional rot runs far deeper than he could've imagined. Insurance scams. Small
businessmen using prisoners as slave labor. A discrete sex shack located on the back end of the property. A secret cache of food supplies, the currency
in a complicated money-making scheme that defrauds both the federal government and local suppliers. If there's a buck to be made, someone—inside
or out—has figured out a way to make it.
Like a dentist doing a root canal, Brubaker systematically cleans out the decay, using a few trusted inmates as his figurative hygienists. (Foremost is
An Officer and a Gentleman's David Keith as Larry Lee Bullen, a "habitual offender" who's really a victim of the uncaring system. He has his
redemption, but it does come at a price.) Brubaker hits a nerve, though, when he discovers the bodies of several prisoners buried in a field, their skulls
bludgeoned and legs severed. Suddenly, his higher-ups, who expected him to enact only minor reforms, are worried that he might bring their whole
illegal and exploitive enterprise—that is, the "way we do things around here"—to light. Those who stand to profit from the status quo begin to conspire
against him, impeding his progress and trying to find ways to push him out. It's Brubaker against a lumbering, oppressive system that puts "tradition"
and greed over efficiency and compassion, and though the film has a moderately "happy" ending, it's rather bleak in its ultimate pronouncement that,
while one man
can make a difference, our institutions are engineered in such a way as to make this very, very difficult.
Brubaker's point-making is sometimes a bit too on-the-nose, prioritizing the film's message over its storytelling and characters. In particular,
Brubaker himself is strangely flat, which is partly do with Redford's laid-back screen presence, but mostly the fault of screenwriter W.D. Richter
(
Invasion of
the Body Snatchers), who tells us so little about the man, his background, and his motivations. Brubaker isn't a
person taking an ax to
the system, he's just an
ax, an autonomous, impersonal tool performing a chore. A robot of reform. Nonetheless, the film is engaging on so
many other levels—the interesting ensemble cast, the gritty cinematography, Lalo Schifrin's excellent score, the wince-inducing violence—that this
hardly
matters.
Brubaker will always be the lesser of Stuart Rosenberg's prison movies—it's hard to top
Cool Hand Luke—but it holds up well
as an indictment of the way correctional facilities can be mismanaged, to the moral detriment of both the inmates and the officials.
Brubaker Blu-ray, Video Quality
20th Century Fox has put out some terrific-looking catalog releases recently, and
Brubaker is no exception. Actually, I'd say this is one of the
better high definition remasters I've seen lately for a film from the late 1970s and early '80s. To start, the source materials have undergone a careful,
non-obtrusive cleanup, leaving the image absolutely pristine. Beyond one or two errant white specks, I didn't notice any print damage, and better yet,
the picture is entirely natural and filmic, with no evidence of texture-smearing noise reduction or edge enhancement. (Note, though, that the film grain
is quite heavy at times.) It's doubtful
any theatrical prints of the movie ever looked this good. Besides a few soft shots here and there,
clarity is excellent, pulling out the fine detail in Redford's craggy face, the worn-out prison uniforms, and other near-tangible textures. Color is perfectly
balanced and stable too, dense without being oversaturated, with strong contrast, consistent black levels, and highlights that roll off smoothly. (I
especially like how the color grading changes subtly from the early scenes—where the prison looks particularly dank and dingy—to the lighter
atmosphere once Brubaker enacts some morale-improving reforms.) I didn't spot any compression issues or anything else that might detract from the
viewing experience. A strong transfer, all around.
Use the thumbs up and thumbs down icons to agree or disagree that the title is similar to Brubaker. You can also suggest completely new similar titles to Brubaker in the search box below.
