Sing Sing – The Impact of Art on the Human Life
Words by Grace Barber
Edited by Myfanwy Greene
2024 was a great year for film, with so many different releases, including Conclave, The Brutalist and Anora. Unsurprisingly, the Oscar buzz among film fans was intense!
Still from Sing Sing (2024), directed by Greg Kwedar
One of the films that I feel didn’t get the recognition it deserved (and was absolutely robbed throughout awards season) was Sing Sing, directed by Greg Kwedar and starring Colman Domingo. The film follows Divine G, a man imprisoned at Sing Sing prison for a crime that he didn’t commit. He finds himself delving into acting in the prison’s theatre group alongside the other inmates as they come to realise the transformative power of art. The film is based on the Prison Arts Program, ‘Rehabilitation Through the Arts’, an organisation attempting to break the cycle of incarceration to help transform people’s lives.
The film was an absolute beauty. Patrick Scola’s cinematography presented a poignant portrayal of humanity, and the narrative is so powerful, recontextualising the story of imprisoned individuals who have been misrepresented in media before. Another key aspect which highlighted the film’s beauty was that the ensemble play themselves. The expression of their journey as ex-prisoners and the sharing of their own stories and connections with art was a truly moving aspect of the film. Every aspect of the film was expressed with intense care, and that really made it a standout film of the year for me.
Still from Sing Sing (2024), directed by Greg Kwedar
After watching the film (and wiping away many tears) I was left with the standout message that resonated with me – the transformative power of art. Art is a vital part of human life, it is a as liberation, a tool to re-establish humanity, a glimpse into others’ lives, and it truly impacts us all. Art has always surrounded my life, be it through my parents and their pursuit of artistic hobbies and jobs, my own study of art in school, or visiting galleries and watching theatre from a young age. I have always had a deep passion for art and understood the importance it has in our lives.
This film highlights with such raw emotion and essence the power of an artistic journey, how it defines us, how it breaks us and how it shapes us into new people. In the rapidly growing age of digital media, and the increasing threat AI puts onto artist’s livelihoods, it is more important than ever for us to understand the pure humanity that lies behind the art we create, and how vital it is to preserve this artistic humanity.
I couldn’t live without the influence of art, as I use it daily, so I understand where its transformative power really lies. Art is part of the fabric of human nature, and we see this from cave drawings to oil paintings, film to theatre. As humans, we have always engaged with art.
Cave painting from The Caves of Lascaux, France
However, I fear that this engagement and value for it has been decreasing in people’s mentalities over the past few years. I constantly see negativity towards people pursing art. I have always encountered this throughout my life, with common phrases being, but you won’t make any money from that, or, you’re not really that smart if you study creative subjects or, even, plainly, you’re not good enough. These comments have been targeted towards artists for ages, (Van Gogh’s artworks were always hated when he was alive) but I think that, tied with the scarily rise of the AI-image, this negativity towards art is beginning to affect more and more of us.
Are we losing touch with the power of art? Are we too focused on fast production? Is the expression of human life in art beginning to fade? Can we save art’s value?
Vincent van Gogh, Wheat Field with Cypresses, 1889.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The truth we need to understand is that art impacts us all.
Going back to the film, through close, striking shots, we see the intensity of emotion felt in these characters towards the value of art in their lives. As the program name suggests, it is rehabilitative, providing the incarcerated with new outlets to channel their emotions.
We see the development and change art can evoke in people. Clarence Maclin’s portrayal of his fictionalised self has a clear journey through the narrative. While he starts out as the hardened inmate, and shows scepticism towards the theatre programme, Clarence regains a self-esteem and begins to make changes, through his engagement with the arts. We also see this through Colman Domingo’s character, Divine G, who appears to be losing hope for the future and and a grip on his humanity as his incarceration time increases. However, art acts as a tool for him to bring back his humanity, which is particularly vital in prison, a place that strips people of their humanity. Art acts as form of defiance and self-expression, helping the other inmates and Divine G feel the essence and value of being human once more.
Still from Sing Sing (2024), directed by Greg Kwedar
What I learned from Sing Sing was that we all need to realise the power of art. Like Clarence, we need to learn to be open to art’s engagement in our lives, receptive to how it can change us, understanding of how it can help us become the best versions of ourselves.
Art is intertwined with our lives. We need to keep creating, engaging and valuing art. Art lets us regain things we thought we lost, it allows us to break free of our narratives, even when we think it’s impossible. As Sean Johnson says in the film,
‘We here to become human again, to put on nice clothes and dance around and enjoy
the things that is not in our reality.’
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To understand more about the wonderful work of the RTA, please check out the link below.
RTA, Rehabilitation Through the Arts, https://rta-arts.org/.
Sing Sing is now streaming on Apple TV, Hulu, Amazon Prime and others.
