Central Industrial Prison is set in the middle of the
desert. It's the future of maximum-security containment and
it's been "locked down" after an explosion of violence. A
Committee's been appointed to report on the events that led
to the violence but their findings are in stark contrast to
the reality we see with our own eyes.. "Ghosts.. of the
Civil Dead" is a powerful drama on modern methods of social
control.
Ghosts... Of The Civil Dead is set entirely within the
confines of a modern Maximum Security prison - a "New
Generation" Prison painted in play school yellows, bathroom
violets and resembling your modern Shopping Mall. Central
Industrial Prison is located in the middle of the desert.
It has been "locked down" - the confinement of all inmates
to their cells, 23 hors a day, imdefintely - following an
outbreak of violence and a Committee has been appointed to
report..
The film flashes back to trace the events that led to the
lockdown, allowing us to discover the startling facts -
that the unseen, but omnipotent administration have
deliberately provoked the inmates and officers alike in
order to create the violence.
Ultimately, Ghosts... Of The Civil Dead is about modern
methods of social control: colour, architecture and
environment, human group dynamics, drugs, television, brute
force, breeding of criminals, notions of random violence,
fear, divide and rule, police, media.. It is about the
organisation of our society..
Ghosts... Of The Civil Dead is a very powerful, sometimes
harrowing and most often an intensely provocative cinematic
experience that stunned the worlds film community upon its
release (theatrical distribution included UK, France,
Germany, Austria, Finland, Italy, Japan, Australia, New
Zealand). "Masterpiece on the order of Goya" wrote "Time
Out" in the UK..
The film is about the fact that prison further criminalises
its inhabitants. It is about the way in which the system,
upon which our society is based, has the capacity to
exploit events that should be an indictment of it. Further,
it is about the fact that our system deliberately creates
those events in order to exploit them. The Committee
appointed to report recommends that a new "super maximum"
security prison immediately begin construction.
Evan English.
