Lock-Up: The Prisoners of Rikers Island (1994)

Lock-Up: The Prisoners of Rikers Island: Directed by Jon Alpert, Nina Rosenblum. With Jon Alpert, Jackie, Jimmy Mirabel, Miguel ‘Chino’ Santiago. A look inside Rikers Island which is a rather unknown place in New York. Many of the inmates and various people working in the law enforcement field are interviewed. We see aftermath of violence, different units, a drug search in one of the prison units, judge visits etc.

“not quite u0026quot;Ozu0026quot; but similar. I think much of footage was u0026quot;softenedu0026quot; by the fact that the guards and prisoners were on best behavior for the cameras. Many of the prisoners just seem emotionally messed up people, depressed and unloved, but other like the u0026quot;Eddie Whiteu0026quot; guy just seems to actually enjoy playing the legal system and what you would call a u0026quot;bad appleu0026quot;. For the others, it seems highly cruel punishment to lock up emotionally unbalanced people in solitary confinement, it is too bad that we canu0026#39;t somehow identify the Eddie Whites and somehow rehabilitate the others who just seem lost, desperate, poor and lonely. The female prison was especially sad since many of them were pregnant and one of the mothers gave birth in the prison. The other had a miscarriage although they wouldnu0026#39;t tell her why or let her see the body. Another male prisoner comments how he was u0026quot;born in prisonu0026quot;. At first you think it is a figure of speech but then you realize it really happens. What kind of life can a child like that expect to have, especially in the unforgiving United States?”