Filmed at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, “Music From the Big House,” Bruce McDonald’s loosely built documentary, yields the cognitive dissonance of being entertained by performers convicted of rape, murder and other offenses. The Canadian blues singer Rita Chiarelli acts as our ambassador to a realm of life sentences and strained redemption as she and the inmates put on a concert within this notorious prison known as Angola, formerly the site of a slave plantation.
Sabre Walker
Rita Chiarelli in a film about an inmates’ concert at the Louisiana State Penitentiary.
The mostly soul, blues and spirituals heard in jam sessions and performances — some are rousing — sound like what one might hear in church. It’s all part of a long musical tradition at Angola, where the bluesman Leadbelly was apparently released on the basis of his talent. As if spiritually cleansing, black-and-white photography captures prisoners today as they not only belt out songs on a humble stage but also ruminate on coping with the past.
This low-key film, which uses a Brian Eno track for ambience during filler shots of prison common areas, gets across a general notion of music as universal solace. But the filmmakers hesitate at going deeper into the dark places of the prisoners’ biographies and the storied prison itself. The one wouldn’t exist without the other, and Ms. Chiarelli’s rambling platitudes are no substitute. Perhaps Mr. McDonald, a fellow Canadian who directed the low-budget 1989 cult film “Roadkill” and the innovative horror film “Pontypool,” says it best: After one convict’s musings about making apologies, we see a moving rendition of a song about laying one’s burden down.
Music From the Big House
Opened on Friday in Manhattan.
Directed by Bruce McDonald; written by Tony Burgess and Erin Faith Young, from an original concept by Rita Chiarelli; director of photography, Steve Cosens; edited by Eamonn O’Connor; music by Chris Guglick; produced by Ms. Young and Jennifer St. John; released by Matson Films. At the Cinema Village, 22 East 12th Street, Greenwich Village. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes. This film is not rated.