Attica is a 2021 film directed by Traci Curry and Stanley Nelson.
It is a documentary of the infamous Attica Prison riot
of September 1971. Attica Prison was in 1971 notorious as the most brutal prison in the New York penal system, where inmates endure an appalling lack of hygiene, inadequate food and medical care, and regular abuse and beatings from guards. On September 9, 1971, a fight breaks out which spirals into a riot when inmates break through the central intersection in the prison complex. The inmates of the prison take over a substantial portion of Attica, and they also take 42 hostages.
A tense five-day standoff continues. The inmates in the prison demand amnesty for the riot itself, as well as more humane treatment and other basic rights. A negotiating committee is receptive, and it seems as if the situation may be resolved peacefully—until a guard injured in the initial riot dies in the hospital. New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller gives the go-ahead for authorities to take back the prison by force. A bloodbath ensues.
Tropes:
- Blatant Lies: A loudspeaker from the helicopter calls out "Surrender. You will not be harmed." At the same time, police began firing indiscriminately into the crowd with live ammunition.
- Company Town: This phrase is used as a 1971 news report says that Attica, NY is a "prison town". The prison was almost the only employer in the town. This is cited as a problem since the town of Attica was at that time very white, which resulted in a lily-white workforce of prison guards in charge of an inmate population that was 70% black or brown.
- Documentary: A documentary of the 1971 Attica riot.
- Establishing Shot: The first shots of the film show Attica Correctional Facility in 2021, before interviewees tell the story of how the initial riot broke out. Throughout the rest of the movie, footage of Attica in the modern day is used to link segments.
- Fan Disservice: Still photos of the inmates being held naked in the yard after the police attack. A National Guardsman compares it to depictions of Africans being forced onto slave ships.
- Hellhole Prison: Attica Correctional Facility, Attica, NY. It is a brutal, dehumanizing place where inmates are subjected to terrible abuse.
- In Medias Res: Instead of opening with a lot of introductory material about how the brutality and nightmarish living conditions inside Attica, the film opens with the riot breaking out immediately, as the inmates assault a guard and break through the "Times Square" central intersection of the prison complex. Later, as the standoff continues and the prisoners make demands, the film includes interviews of prisoners talking about the abuses they suffered, and the family members of guards talk about how they feared for their loved ones' lives.
- The Ken Burns Effect: Used sparingly as most of the film is live-action footage.
- There's a pan across a picture of officer William Quinn and his family as Quinn's wife and daughter talk about how scary his work was, and there's a zoom in to a picture of guard and hostage Carl Vallone as his family talks about their fear during the standoff. There are pans over still photos of Gov. Rockefeller and Pres. Nixon as the latter tells the former, over the phone, to not cave to the protesters.
- Then there's a series of ghastly still photos of dead bodies after the police attack, with pans and zooms.
- Male Frontal Nudity: Still photos of the surviving prisoners being held under guard in the yard, naked, hands over their head.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Early in the film a sniper watching the prison through his scope says "There is the ugliest, blackest Negro gentleman I've ever seen in my life." Later, police are heard shouting racial insults during the final assault. A film clip shows gleeful cops after the massacre yelling "White power!".
- Prison Riot: The most notorious Real Life example in American history. 33 prisoners and ten guards die. All but four (three prisoners and one guard) were killed not by prisoners, but by law enforcement during the final assault.
- Stock Footage: There was a lot of press coverage and the press was allowed inside Attica during the standoff, so the siege is well-documented with stock footage, which goes from routine B-Roll of Attica Prison to the horrific violence of the final assault, all caught on film.
- Talking Heads: Many, including inmates, journalists, members of the negotiating committee, and family members of guards.
