FORTUNE AND MEN'S EYES

1971, Canada, 101 minutes, Colour.
Wendell Burton, Michael Greer, Zooey Hall.
Directed by Harvey Hart.

Fortune and Men's Eyes is a brutal but telling look at some of the inhumanities of contemporary prison life. It is based on a play by John Herbert, but this version, filmed authentically inside a Canadian prison, is not stage-bound, although many of the situations may seem contrived and the characters designed to illustrate a point.

The theme of the film is degradation and man's inhumanity to man and why this has to be. It has been remarked that the quality of a civilisation can be gauged by the treatment given to its prisoners. Our culture seems to be far from civilised. In recent years there have been many riots and aborted insurrections in prisons throughout the world. The public does not often reflect why. This brutal film could contribute to forming opinion.

Some critics and audiences found the film too stark and sensational in context and style for their liking. It is certainly not cheerful entertainment. Wendell Burton was the hero of The Sterile Cuckoo and Michael Greer, the flamboyant Queenie of this film, played a moderately similar role in The Gay Deceivers.

1. Read Shakespeare's sonnet X. Does it give meaning to the whole film? How does the title gain meaning from its use in the poem? Did the song during the credits make this kind of impact? (And Smithy's eyes during the credits.)

2. Did you think that the film was realistic? Are prison conditions as bad as this? How bad were these conditions really?

3. Did the film sensationalise its material, especially violence and homosexuality? If it did, would it alienate audiences that it hoped to preach to and convert?

4. How emotional a response did the film evoke from you about the nature of imprisonment, prisons and physical and psychological prison conditions?

5. How normal a prisoner was Smithy ? the showing of him as heterosexual (was this effectively and unobtrusively done?), his drug offence, his six months sentence, his ordinary reactions to going into prison and meeting the men there? How naive was he? How did he react to the men there?

6. Comment on the techniques used to convey the unspoken communication between the prisoners and the emotional force and frequent hostility behind these communications, especially the use of eyes and facial expressions, e.g. at meals.

7. Homosexuality, individual and group, nauseating and flamboyant were all presented directly and consistently. Was this a major theme or was it incidental? How necessary for the film was this kind of presentation? What effect would it have on the average audience?

8. How important was power of one person over another as a theme of the film? Could it have been a major theme or even the major theme? How important is it for men to have power over each other? Is this intensified in the prison situation? What means are there in prison? How does homosexual behaviour fit into this pattern ? power, hatred, friendship, boredom, sensation, survival? Man retains his basic instincts. If they are pent up, what outlets can they find in prison conditions?

9. Did you understand Rocky? Did you like him, or believe him, at any time? How did he gain power over Smithy? How did he exercise it ? especially in the cell? Did Smithy have any alternatives? Was group rape the only alternative (to be like Mona?) ?

10. What effect did Rocky's power have on Smithy? How important was the fight with Rocky? Could it have been the making of Smithy as a character? Why did he go downhill after this? How did his humiliation of Rocky in the cell, plus Rocky's suicide affect him? Why did he turn into a Rocky? Did Mona's reaction jolt him into a realisation of what had happened?

11. How cruel was the film ? the persecution, humiliations, group rape, stealing, protests, beatings, solitary? Were the guards caricatured? What did they contribute to this prison situation?

12. How important in the film was Queenie? How pathetic was he? How funny? How selfish really was he? Did he really like Smithy? How important was the concert and his performance? Why did he do this, and so bitterly? How did his punishment affect him? How bitter was he the last time we saw him?

13. Was Mona a sympathetic character? What had prison done to him? How much sensitivity had he (the purpose of the Shakespeare reading)? How was he a catalyst for the others?

14. What was the significance of the ending? Was there hope for Smithy? Did the film offer any hopes or did it just wish to provoke?

15. Was this an important film to contribute to formation of public opinion via the cinema or was it less than this? Why?