March 2003 Short Eyes (Re-Issue)

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Reviewed by Wilson Morales Short Eyes (Re-Issue) Distributor: Reissued by Castle Hill and Dream LLC Director: Robert M. Young Producers: Lewis Harris, Marvin Stuart, Walker Stuart Screenplay: Miguel Pinero, based on his play Composer: Curtis Mayfield Cast: Bruce Davison, Jose Perez, Nathan George, Miguel Pinero, Don Blakely, & Shawn Elliot Long before “Bad Boys” with Sean Penn, and HBO’s “Oz”, there was “Short Eyes”, a powerful mild film that displays the prison life of Latinos and African-Americas. Based on the award-winning play by Miguel Pinero, and directed by Robert M. Young, the film is well-acted with a frightening view of prison life. Life in prison is never easy. You have muggers, drug-dealers, and even killers all thrown in together in one area. The worst and lowest form of crime one can commit and then be very afraid of the inmates is rape. Such is the case when white man Clark Davis (a young baby-faced Davison) joins the multi-racial inmates. Being the lone white man is one thing, but being a rapist of a young girl makes him a target, which is why he’s labeled “Short Eyes”. Everyday his life is in danger and he seeks help from anyone who’s willing to believe his account of what really happened. Compared to the grim and explosive ways prison films are shot nowadays, this film would be looked at as too tame and not violent enough. But to its credit, it’s very compelling and well-directed. Young uses the one main plot, the case of Davis, to band the inmates in a universal way. Rape is the one crime that inmates detest, and to see Latino and Blacks unite and fight over their decisions of what to do is terrifying. Composer Curtis Mayfield, who also appears in the film, has provided the film with some feel and pizzazz. Pinero, whose life would come out as a film a few years ago, wrote this story based on his time in prison, and he wrote it with such realism and emotion that one doesn’t ever want to be in his shoes. “Short Eyes” is a film that packs a lot a punch without the punch, literally. “SHORT EYES” is being reissued with an exclusive engagement beginning at the Quad Cinema (13 W. 13th St., between 5th & 6th Aves.) in New York City.