Prison life in the United States seems exciting, and it is obvious that it is dealt with through a deep and documented look. Through the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in the United States where the law provides that there is no forced servitude except as a penalty for a crime for which the party has been duly convicted, must be located within the United States. In this film we present the law that gives us an overview of the prison system in the United States. We also know a fascinating history of racial inequality, the most controversial issue.
Director Ava DuVernay ('Selma') has made a very powerful and provocative documentary film which highlights a clear danger to American democracy. It shows how America's enormous prison industry and its largely black population came to be.
What the film does beautifully, is its connecting of a thread that runs through the past one hundred and fifty years; we did not come to this place in history by accident.
In its sweeping treatment of the history of American racism, the film brought me closer than I've ever been to understanding how it could be that so many people could have ever grown used to the moral catastrophes that were slavery and Jim Crow.
A hard, painful and necessary documentary with well-presented interviews, which helps us understand similar situations that are also present in Mexico. [Full review in Spanish]
13th ... is dense with information, and it moves fast. But it's also a story told in images, and the ones DuVernay has chosen ring not just with sadness and horror but also cautious optimism.
Watching this documentary makes it clear that there has been a problem with incarceration used as an economic and political driver for a long time and that action must be taken to change this.
Manages to capture the depth and insidiousness of more than a century of cultural, societal and economic oppression along racial lines and then condenses it into a brisk 100-minute package that could literally slip right into your pocket.
