As someone who works with hospice patients, AND has worked with inmates in the past, I found Serving Life to be an absolute 360 from usual documentaries about incarcerated life. It really gives viewers a sense of what hospice is all about. To see people who have done such horrible things with their lives and to the lives of others, interact with people who dying who have done some of the same things, caring for the patients, and making sure they do not die alone--there really is something to be said about that. I am sure for the inmates participating in the program as volunteers, it is the most gut wrenching dose of reality for them. Serving Life was fantastic from beginning to end-to watch those inmates grow while others pass away and the changes hardened criminals go through is just amazing.
5 Reviews
Deeply moving
artofleading20 October 2013
Compassion, courage, forgiveness, redemption...these are some of the words that capture what this documentary embodies. None of us get out alive. We are all here for a very short time. These men have tried and succeeded to create a life that matters. I am moved and inspired by each of them. All of us have made terrible choices and done terrible things in our lives--none of us get to cast the first stone. The men imprisoned here were very articulate and deeply humble--they killed innocents, and led others into horrific lives, but they were given a tremendous gift in being allowed to touch the lives of other human beings with love and tenderness.
Saving One's Life While Losing It
alicecbr2 December 2014
As an agnostic, I was prepared for the platitudes you usually hear from the 'feel good' folks. so I was overwhelmed by the look in the eyes of the plain-talking Hospice volunteers. You only got a hint of the terrible lives they had led when you saw their mug shots. I don't know what it is in our eyes that shows our soul, but these guys had the sweet look of innocents. How that happened and they were transformed is a great mystery to me.....EXCEPT, maybe these guys knowing they were where they were going to be at the end of THEIR life caused this transformation. As they helped others die, you could see the compassion coming into their faces.
And as time passed and they witnessed the deaths of their fellow prisoners, helping them to die with dignity........you saw the changes in their lives. From blaming others, they accepted responsibility for their actions. The guy I was surprisingly most impressed with, hating authority figures as I do, was the warden. Growing up in Alabama, I am used to hypocrisy from ministers and deacons......Philistines. But this tough-eyed guy matter of factly talked about redemption for these men through their acts without any God/Jesus stuff.involved. Compassionate living. Whomsoever would save his life should lose it in service for others: my paraphrase of a Bible verse. Really punches that thought up. I could never do what these men are doing. Talk about a 180 degree change in their lives.
The point was well made, that no matter how much bravado these men had showed in their 'killing careers', here was where real bravery was called for. You see them standing vigils in the last hours of a man's life, as his eyes begin to set in the death stare. I have never done this except with my mother and grandmother, as they died after a long life 'natural deaths'. So the whole movie was an education for me, as Angola has come to mean the worst in prison conditions and in mistreatment of prisoners. Wonder if this warden is still around.
Movie should be shown to all high school seniors, especially in the spawning areas for crime, the slums.
And as time passed and they witnessed the deaths of their fellow prisoners, helping them to die with dignity........you saw the changes in their lives. From blaming others, they accepted responsibility for their actions. The guy I was surprisingly most impressed with, hating authority figures as I do, was the warden. Growing up in Alabama, I am used to hypocrisy from ministers and deacons......Philistines. But this tough-eyed guy matter of factly talked about redemption for these men through their acts without any God/Jesus stuff.involved. Compassionate living. Whomsoever would save his life should lose it in service for others: my paraphrase of a Bible verse. Really punches that thought up. I could never do what these men are doing. Talk about a 180 degree change in their lives.
The point was well made, that no matter how much bravado these men had showed in their 'killing careers', here was where real bravery was called for. You see them standing vigils in the last hours of a man's life, as his eyes begin to set in the death stare. I have never done this except with my mother and grandmother, as they died after a long life 'natural deaths'. So the whole movie was an education for me, as Angola has come to mean the worst in prison conditions and in mistreatment of prisoners. Wonder if this warden is still around.
Movie should be shown to all high school seniors, especially in the spawning areas for crime, the slums.
Excellent!
danlaske28 May 2015
This is truly one of the most inspiring things I've seen in a long time. No human being is so far gone that love cannot bring them back. It is such a wonderful testimony to how human beings become more who they are meant to be through compassionate service to others. This is the message of the Gospel -- which Jesus spoke about but more importantly lived. This documentary demonstrates this so well without every becoming preachy or repetitive. What is also particularly moving is that the hospice volunteers often do not know what the other prisoners are in for (but the viewing audience does). They also have to deal with difficult patients without any thanks at times. Rather than giving up or even judging each other, these men persevered and grew more and more loving in the process. Watch it. It will stay with you.
Care And Compassion In The Most Unexpected Environment
sddavis632 September 2013
I appreciated the basic message here very much. It's set in the Louisiana State Prison - not a place where you normally expect to see much caring and compassion. It's where the worst of the worst go, as we're told early on. Most of them lifers; others serving extremely long prison terms; few with any hope of getting out. And because the inmates are serving extremely long sentences, they get old and they get sick and they need care. So Warden Burl Cain decided to set up a hospice program to provide care for those prisoners who were dying - staffed mostly by inmate volunteers.
The basic message is great. You learn about caring by providing care; you learn about compassion by being compassionate. The inmates who participate in the volunteer program (who are carefully selected) are transformed by the experience, and often come to see their life and their crimes in a new light. Meanwhile, the dying inmates are shown both care and compassion while being allowed to die with dignity, and never to die alone if possible, since as the end of life comes imminent, 24 hour shifts of volunteers are established.
It's a different look at life in prison. No gangs or prison rapes or anything like that. Just caring and compassion - dignity being both given and received in an environment in which there had likely been little caring or compassion. Narrated by Forest Whitaker, I thought the biggest flaw in this was that it was a little bit long, and became repetitive after a while. As I said, the basic message and lesson was simple, and maybe didn't need as much time as it received. But it's a very moving story. (6/10)
The basic message is great. You learn about caring by providing care; you learn about compassion by being compassionate. The inmates who participate in the volunteer program (who are carefully selected) are transformed by the experience, and often come to see their life and their crimes in a new light. Meanwhile, the dying inmates are shown both care and compassion while being allowed to die with dignity, and never to die alone if possible, since as the end of life comes imminent, 24 hour shifts of volunteers are established.
It's a different look at life in prison. No gangs or prison rapes or anything like that. Just caring and compassion - dignity being both given and received in an environment in which there had likely been little caring or compassion. Narrated by Forest Whitaker, I thought the biggest flaw in this was that it was a little bit long, and became repetitive after a while. As I said, the basic message and lesson was simple, and maybe didn't need as much time as it received. But it's a very moving story. (6/10)
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