★★★
The beloved norteño band Los Tigres Del Norte perform for the inmates of Folsom Prison on the 50th anniversary of Johnny Cash's iconic concert
Classification: 12
A well-intentioned portrait into the lives of the inmates of the famous Folsom prison, Tom Donahue's documentary Los Tigres del Norte at Folsom Prison is a concert film intercut with talking-head interviews that quickly plays its hand and spends the rest of the runtime trying to remain interesting. The famous norteño band wishes to pay tribute to Johnny Cash's famous concert 50 years on by holding their own concert in the prison which has seen a steady increase in a Latin American population. Like Cash, Los Tigres del Norte wishes to bring something to the forgotten, to give the voiceless a voice and to celebrate with these people. Even though the documentary is very visually limited with the majority of the documentary consisting of the concert, there are plenty of shots showing the joy of the prison community both male and female of seeing musicians that inspire them performing.
The songs performed after a stellar opening of their rendition of "Folsom Prison Blues" consist of folk stories that connect to the culture and histories of the prisoners. Editing has lyrics and interview blend together to show how Los Tigres del Norte's music connects to the Folsom prisoners. The inmates are the main focus of the film, the band may get the audience inside Folsom and kick off a show but the whole runtime is dedicated to telling the stories of a modern prison population. Stories of regret, fear, sorrow are the recurring themes throughout the film as they discuss their love for Los Tigres del Norte, how they ended up in prison and what may await them in the future. Many recurring factors are found in many of the inmate's stories; the three strikes law, youthful arrogance, immigration and it shows how Donahue and the band wish to use their celebrity to highlight issues affecting Latin American people.
It's a narrative split between gender, with one concert for the men and one for the women. The interviews blend together towards the end of the documentary but despite the short runtime a lot of viewpoints are captured and scenes featuring Los Tigres del Norte meeting some of the same inmates show how the band don't wish to use their celebrity for a negative effect. The band only gives brief interviews to give context in the film, explain Folsom's history or why they wished to honour Cash and the inmates by holding a concert. Cash himself is not the main focus of the concert, only a few tasteful references towards the beginning because it's clear Los Tigres del Norte want to commit as much time to the personal stories as well. The film is visually limited as mentioned before and the mixture of the two concerts with moving interviews does make the film engaging but even with the short runtime, it does begin to wear thin.
It gives a platform for those forgotten and cast aside from society, in the modern American political climate where Latin Americans are demonised by politicians to see the real human stories of remorseful individuals who wish to become better is an inspiring image. Breaking away from prejudice not only of their ethnicity but from their status as prisoners, even if the audience has never heard of Los Tigres del Norte, the prisoners certainly have and their passion radiates through the concert footage and interviews. Entertaining but quickly uses all of its tricks within the first twenty minutes, Donahue's direction elicits strong interviews from the subjects but cannot maintain a fresh narrative throughout his film. Passion can be felt from the musicians and prisoners but unless the audience already has an interest in the band or Folsom prison, very little of Los Tigres del Norte at Folsom Prison will engage an audience beyond its opening despite its interesting material. The repetitive nature of the editing and structure of the film is a detriment to the noble efforts undertaken in this documentary.
Director: #TomDonahue
Release Date: September 15th 2019
Available exclusively on Netflix
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from Netflix
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