Attica (2021) User Reviews

All Sides Fairly Shown

[nafps · 8/10 · 20 February 2022]

There are extensive interviews with all sides here, except for politicans like Rockefeller and Nixon. The ones complaining about "one sided" or "bias" are simply either lying or have faulty memories. There's extensive interviews with guards and especially the families of guards and administration. The warden also, he shows up in the film every few minutes.

And what were they insisting on? "Let's give equal weight to abuse and racism." Give equal weight to little medical care, denying right to practice religion, even petty abuse like one roll of toilet paper a month. Give equal weight to the fact that all guard deaths were by friendly fire by incompetently planned attacks.

Some of it is remarkable, white prisoners admitting they got favored treatment. This is the most insightful of the Attica documentaries or films based on the hostage crisis.

Unbridled white power abuse (and worse)

[paul-allaer · 8/10 · 8 November 2021]

"Attica" (2021 release; 117 min.) is a new documentary about the Attica prison riot. As the movie opens, it is "9-9-71, Thursday, Day 1", as we hear a number of former Attica prisoners who were there bear witness to it all. "70% of the prisoner population were black and brown; all-white guards... what could go wrong?", someone asks sarcastically. Along the way, we are given an overview of the way things were at Attica (overpopulation; poor living conditions; lack of available health care; systematic abuse from the guards, and so on). "We wanted to be treated like humans, not like dogs." At this point we are 10 min into the film.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from Emmy-winning and veteran documentarian Stanley Nelson ("Freedom Riders"). The documentary opens with talking heads, as there wasn't archive footage of the situation until local (and later national) TV stations started covering the events. When watching a documentary like this, there are 2 separate aspects: the underlying events giving rise to the documentary, and whether the documentary itself is any good. As to the underlying event, let's be clear: this is unbridled white power abuse (and worse), pure and simple. If you object to the term "white power", well it's actually uttered by a New York state trooper at the Attica scene, right then and there, with a smirk on his face and without any awareness that, you know, this may not be the best thing to say out loud. But no, he doesn't care one bit. One might expect such scenes to come from the South African apartheid regime, but this really happened right here in the US, a mere 50 years ago. As to the documentary itself: the initial 90 min cannot prepare you for what you will see in the last 30 min of the film. Nelson and his team have painstakingly gone through the archive TV and film footage, and it is a veritable treasure trove on one of the most sickening events in the modern history of this country.

"Attica" premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9-9-21, exactly 50 years after the Attica prison riot started, to immediate critical acclaim. The documentary recently premiered on Showtime, and is now available on SHO On Demand (where I saw it), Amazon Instant Video and other streaming platforms. If you need a reminder as to how unbridled white power has functioned in US history, you can do a lot worse than seeing this documentary, Of course, don't take my word for it and hence I urge you to seek out this film, and draw your own conclusion.

PIGS

[PedroPires90 · 8/10 · 13 March 2022]

The last 25/30 minutes of this really elevates this doc to a different level, even if it's as painful as revolting.

Yes, I was mostly ignorant about this. I'm not American and I was only born almost 20 years after. This was shocking as hell, I knew there were some deaths, but never thought it was a cold bloody massacre. How come not a single one of those racist pigs were prosecuted for the killings?

I can't even analyse this as a film. Yeah, the sound is good, the editing too and the testimonies are great to hear. But this is such an emotional journey that I think that it is what it will stay with me, more than any technical achievements.

Attica Grades An A

[aldo-49527 · 9/10 · 21 November 2021]

Documentaries, like any form of journalism, can not be completely objective. But of any one of the forms of journalism, documentaries have the toughest challenge; for wherever the documentarian points his camera a subjective choice is being made. In fact, every one of the elements of filmmaking used express a subjective viewpoint no matter how devoted the intent to objectivity is.

Attica is one of the better journalistically sound docs I've seen in the last ten years. It's about the 1971 uprising at the Attica Prison in New York State that shined a spotlight on the brutal conditions inmates endured, but ultimately resulted in a massacre.

The recollections from former inmates, government officials, family members of guards, and journalists do most of the groundwork here. But, there's a massive amount of arrival footage including horrific images of the aftermath that leave indelible conclusions about what happened.

In the end, what happened is that there's a lot of blame to go around for what went wrong.

And, without directly commenting on it, documentarian Stanley Nelson Jr.'s film also points out that 50 years later much work at improving race relations needs to be done.

The wicked

[tking-34156 · 10/10 · 12 November 2021]

Open my eyes on the brutality by correction. Which their job was care custody and control. Me being a retired correction officer l know people do crazy stuff in a group. Alot of correction believe their family member could never go to prison. The President at that time condone this.

Searing Documentary on the Attica uprising

[gortx · 6 April 2022]

"Attica! Attica!" That quote by Al Pacino in a scene from Sidney Lumet's brilliant 1975 DOG DAY AFTERNOON is probably all that most people know about the 1971 Prison uprising in New York state (if they get the reference at all).

Stanley Nelson and Traci Curry's exemplary documentary does a thorough job of telling the full story. It's not just a recitation of facts, either, the filmmakers do excellent work in showing how the small upper state New York that housed the prison was a true 'company town' - the corporation being the state pen. Current day interviews are presented from many who participated (including multiple prisoners) and the families of those who aren't here to tell their story (especially the guards).

Fortunately for the filmmakers there is ample footage, not just from newsreels, but, quite a bit from inside the prison. The prisoners made the wise P. R. choice to allow the media inside the prison walls in order for their side of the story to be told. The most chilling footage is from Attica's security cameras. They sit silently capturing all of the events without moving or editing. Just observing.

What's most striking about the early part of the Documentary is how articulate the prisoners were (and are). Their pleas for fair treatment by officials is passionate and well thought out (one of their number, nicknamed 'Jerry the Jew', was an actual lawyer). The sense that they were finally being heard is palpable. There was even some optimism.

All of this, adds to how painful the final act plays out. Even with some hope expressed early on, one knows how it all turned out. The villains here are then Governor Nelson Rockefeller and President Nixon (who not only expresses support for Rockefeller's actions, but goads him on). The surveillance footage is truly horrific. The police's repeated exhortations to the prisoners to surrender and "you'll all be safe" are just as heartbreaking five decades later.

Nelson and Curry do mention that some reform did come out it, but, it took far too long, as did any king of recognition and compensation to the guards who became the pawns in the tug of war. ATTICA isn't just a 'history lesson' - it's a vital document that resonates.

Incomplete

[mhendroff · 7/10 · 9 February 2022]

I really wish the 2 recent Attica documentaries could have somehow been combined, with input from Ms Fink (loved her narration in the other doc) and possibly some of the state troopers involved - however difficult that may have been. Am still seething with anger hours after viewing both, and I live half the world away.

7 out of 10.

Wow!

[Pistol7 · 10/10 · 10 January 2022]

What a powerful documentary maybe the most powerful I have seen. This has interviews from inmates, family of guards, newsmen, and people who went inside at the time.

Interesting, but limited

[lmkixx · 6/10 · 23 November 2021]

After watching this documentary I couldn't help but wonder why the filmmakers didn't explain why the state police and corrections officers went in without a valid plan to save the hostages. They knew the hostages were dressed as prisoners. What was the finding of the investigation into the incident? Did the state continue with the lie that prisoners killed the hostages? How long did the retaliation against the prisoners continue? When did the treatment of prisoners improve? Just too much was left out and left unsaid.

Not Law and Order

[RobertCPA · 10/10 · 22 February 2022]

I highly recommend this documentary although it is extremely distressing. The actual film clips and interviews with a range of those affected are exceptionally compelling. It seems that many "law and order" types might see this as "just desserts" for the persons incarcerated there (if you can't do the time, don't do the crime??!!). Extrajudicial killing during a disordered and politicized "law enforcement" response is anything but lawful and is an atrocity. The lack of accountability for the conditions that gave rise to the rebellion and for the murderous actions let loose by the authorities responsible is a stain on our country and its aspiration of "justice for all."

some feelings

[j_movie · 7/10 · 12 September 2021]

Although there is a certain tendency in the position, it is still a very valuable record. Many years later, I wonder if the pain we experienced can be recovered in this form?

Brutal documentary

[TigerHeron · 9/10 · 21 February 2022]

I saw a previous documentary about Attica that was pretty good; this one is far more brutal.

This film goes over the events as if it's a daily newsreel, with every detail about each day's events and the negotiations. I have to admit that part began to get a bit tedious. The footage from the police assault on the prison includes many photos of blood-drenched bodies and the various kinds of brutalization and torture that were inflicted on the inmates AFTER the authorities gained control of the prison. Throughout, the film intersperses interviews with former inmates, observers, children and widows of the guards, and one former National Guardsman.

It's a difficult but necessary film. I am puzzled by a couple of reviews on this site claiming it's "one-sided." I don't know what those people are talking about. The event was a mass murder by the government. The fact no one from the government was ever prosecuted is a stain on our country. Money from a lawsuit isn't enough.

Very one-sided and biased, but the historical recordings save it

[JurijFedorov · 6/10 · 25 January 2022]

I read quite a few reviews calling it out for being biased. Yeah, obviously it's biased. You know that before watching it. The cover is literary a group of black figures with one of them doing the Black Panther fist related to anti-cop and anti-White ideas in the pro Black movements. This is obviously a very left-wing project trying to make Black prisoners look good and the largely White guards look evil. Unfortunately a lot of radical activists are now the main writers on these historical events. So 95% of the books and docs on these type of Black vs. White stories are very biased. Knowing that we can still judge the product fairly instead of ignoring it outright.

Here you experience the prisoners point of view. We start in the prison and there are very few scenes outside of it. Most interviews are with prisoners who get to create the story they want to tell. Yet even so once in a while an "mistake" appears in the story where some nasty truth comes out. The prisoners killed a guard. Many wanted to kill the rest of them. They wanted to take more prisoners even from the group that was trying to help them. They had criminal records. You kinda need to listen carefully to see the real story buried in the soft propaganda, but it's there for you to watch if you can spot it. But even though there are points of truth here you can't really claim it's the best possible story you can tell on this event. You are missing half the story. We are missing the politicians, policemen, regular citizens. There are a lot of personal stories about what the prisoners or pro-prisoner journalists witnessed. And often you wonder where they saw the event or how it really happened. Many stories are totally overblown and play up the Black vs. White fight to create a biased story and clearly many of the stories are completely made up, but the producer can't know that for sure. We see White prisoners on screen too so it feels like their overall biased point of view is not really reality. Thanks to the old recordings we know some of the retellings are invalid. The Black prisoners were run by the neo-Muslims so they were extremely anti-cop and anti-White people. While the White prisoners wanted better conditions overall instead of all that fluffy stuff about Islam and communism. This made a negotiation quite impossible because half the demands were weird impossible requests and half the demands were these "better conditions" ideas that could actually easily be fulfilled. But the prisoners never settled on anything concrete and just wanted more negotiations.

This is way less biased than most other modern retellings of the story because they are forced to use ACTUAL recordings from the prison and have actual prisoner interviews. So they are forced tell more of the true story as much as they are unwilling to do so. You can't force them to show both sides of the story though. It's a fun doc that I did fairly enjoy watching overall because I liked the old recordings from prison. But it's not really a proper project on the story and one has to wonder why they even bothered making this when there are 10 other docs about the event just as biased. A clear and unbiased retelling would actually be something new. But I guess that doesn't sell. They are aiming at a very specific audience here. You can still watch it if you want some history, but you'd want a less biased retelling if you can find it.

Skewered documentary.

[mklvntwar · 3/10 · 7 November 2021]

Mostly one sided opinions of the prisoner takeover at Attica and the carnage that followed . Too bad they failed to present law enforcements point of view.

Necessary viewing

[astridmrkich · 10/10 · 10 September 2021]

This is a tough, but necessary, watch. Even though the horrific display of state sanctioned violence and killing towards Black inmates at Attica prison in NY happened 50 years ago, it unfortunately feels contemporary. The scary thing is that not much has changed regarding police brutality, prison conditions, or racism over the past 50 years. The footage included is remarkable. You'd be hard pressed to find this kind of all access media regarding a similar event in 2021. As I said, this is necessary viewing for anyone interested in racial and social justice and abolition. Remarkably well done documentary.

Both sides!!!

[crogel-29237 · 9/10 · 16 November 2021]

I knew this would be the battle cry of our modern day confederacy. I came to this site as soon as I finished this well done documentary. I can sniff out the landing spots for America's ignorant white trash. I wasn't let down after reading the reviews

This documentary shows events as they happened plain and simple. It's sickening. At the root of the problem is prison conditions. We conduct ourselves like a third world country. The ignorance of the guards, the administration snd Rockefeller -Nixon is I unpalatable. I'm not defending the inmates, not close but the final death toll is Guards -39 Inmates -1

Here's the real sad thing. It's 50 years later and the prisons still suck, maybe worse and a lot of the political leadership is even worse than it was 50 years ago.

Succinct in Sixteen

[unclesamsavage · 6/10 · 3 March 2022]

Chilling insight to the fateful riot where aliens brutalized their perceived aliens. Where is the understanding?

Screenplay...................................... 6 / 10 Interviews........................................ 6 Visuals................................................ 8 Sound................................................... 7 Editing................................................ 4 Music....................................................... 3 Timeless Utility................................. 7 Total.................................................... 41 / 70 ~= 5.9 (rounded to 6) Verdict................................................. Enjoyable for mature & socially conscious audiences.

An Appalling Incident in US History

[DavoZed · 9/10 · 2 May 2022]

Between the film shot at the time and the alarming interviews with former inmates and guards, the riot at Attica is brought to gritty life.

Anyone who imagines that prison is an appropriate or safe place for ANYONE, is delusional.

And anyone who imagines that the US had or has a functioning democracy, should know that the NY governor, Nelson Rockefeller, failed to act and is directly responsible for the deaths and injuries caused by the riot. He could have prevented them.

But Rockefeller wanted to run for the GOP nomination for President and could NOT afford to look soft on crime, so he ignored the crisis to achieve that.

He gets a pass in history books as relatively warm and fuzzy but he was a neo fascist, just like Nixon / Reagan / the Bushs / Trump.

A Bit One Sides

[boyd-32100 · 7/10 · 27 December 2023]

Good documentary but pretty much what I expected. Focal point on those that initiated the riots and the killing of the guard in a liberal manner blaming the system. Does a very good job getting accounts from those involved. Attempts to create sympathy for the illegal actions of the prisoners while painting those running the institution as racist and abusers. Most of those interviewed that were directly involved fail to accept responsibility for their actions or the actions of others. Coverage of the events chronologically is exceptionally done with interviews and vintage footage of the events.

One Side of the Story

[dlc507 · 10/10 · 8 November 2021]

Unfortunately, documentaries are usually always one sided, and so if we have to be force fed one angle, I don't get why people complain about the other side of a story. We've all heard the political and correction side of Attica, are we supposed to believe they knew what was happening to the inmates while they sat on rooftops or outside the walls? Everyone has a side they want to believe, but have a incredibly hard time if it doesn't meet the narrative they were initially told.

Give this documentary a chance, then watch the credits. Stop listening to one side of any story, get all perspectives and then make your decision.

It was disgusting and embarrassing to see for the first time in my life, what state troopers were chanting after it was over. Or hearing execution rounds being fired after the yard was taken back.

I'd love a documentary that has the perspective of the hostages. If there are any alive or willing to break the code, because on that day of the takeover, they were slaughtered by their own.

A shocking if not overly insightful examination of the Attica incident

[eddie_baggins · 6/10 · 2 August 2022]

Arguably most well known in common occurrences as the word famously uttered as a rallying cry by Al Pacino's bank robber in crime classic Dog Day Afternoon, the tragic siege at Attica Correctional Facility in uncompromisingly examined here in Stanley Nelson and Traci Curry's Showtime documentary feature that was recently nominated for a Best Documentary Academy Award at the 2022 Oscar ceremony.

Unafraid to show the Attica incident in a warts and all fashion, Nixon and Curry collate a large collection of inmates, officers and other figures present at the time of the 1971 event to talk about their first hand experiences close to or behind the walls of the facility where prison inmates had overtaken the prison and were holding guards captive on the national stage as they demanded better treatment in what was being described as inhumane conditions they were otherwise facing in the American incarceration system.

Not interested in exploring much behind the history of the Attica prison itself or the years worth of lead up to the eventual explosion of events, Attica does miss a chance to establish itself with a foundation or groundwork of context as it instead gets stuck straight into the actual siege events that took place over a number of days and it feels like Nelson and Curry missed out on allowing their film to gain traction before delving straight into the heavy hitting aspects of the siege that still shock to this day 50 years on.

For anyone unaware of exactly what went down in the infamous moment in American history explored here, they're undoubtedly in for an extreme shock at just what took place on the soil of the land of the free and you sense that while some things have certainly changed, there's still a lot of issues that plagued the system in 1971 that still exist today, making Attica as an incident and a film a warning as to just what can happen when cooler heads and correct decisions are not adhered too.

Despite the power within the true life story and honest insights from real life survivors and participants of the events, as a documentary Attica narrows its focus too quickly and narrowly and for this it feels as though its lacking a certain craftsmanship and design, a key aspect that would've made it a more all round package not just a warning to us all what a failure of communication looks like in all its horror.

Final Say -

A tragic and unforgettable event is explored in a more forgettable and paint by numbers fashion, Attica is a grizzly look back at the events of 1971 but not the quintessential all round experience one might've hoped for when deep diving into the pre and post effects of what occurred and why.

3 makeshift camps out of 5

For more reviews check out Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)

Exceptional one-sided documentary

[ecmarmon · 9/10 · 14 January 2022]

Well produced and filmed documentary telling the story of the Attica, NY prison riot.

I found hearing directly from inmates involved in the riot fascinating. They were very descriptive and provided a horrifying story of their experience. Well worth a watch.

Problem? It was VERY one-sided. Law enforcement and the state acted in a terrifyingly inhuman, vicious manner, but It was clear that I was suppose to take the side of convicted, malicious, violent criminals who over played their hand. A tragedy from every angle, but I feel the director had a clear one-sided perspective... which is ok, but be aware if you respect law enforcement and value a society of order, this doc will at the very least irritate you.

Completely ONE SIDED account of this event

[djfuzz-36275 · 1/10 · 15 August 2023]

The description on this film given by this site shows the FALSE and misleading deceit you will be viewing.

"Survivors, observers, and expert government officials recount the 1971 uprising at the Attica Correctional Facility."

What "expert government officials" appear in this film? I did not see one government official past or present give statement/account on their experiences. The only government official you see is from documentary footage from the riot in 1971.

If you mean "expert government officials" referring to an opinionated critic in the media, that is not a government official. YOU NEED TO CLARIFY

ZERO, NOT ONE member of the corrections department of NYS, or the troopers from NYS, nor ANY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS PRESENT during this event, were allowed to provide any account. ZERO, NONE.

FLIP THAT COIN and see how you feel if it was the other way around. Only law enforcement giving their side, their experiences and reasoning for why this happened and what occurred.

A completely one-sided view, significantly recounted by the former incarcerated, their views and opinions only.

Mistakes were made absolutely by the state and the department of corrections, but mistakes were ABSOLUTELY on both sides, BOTH.

I want to hear from ALL SIDES.

Criminals and savages

[paul2001sw-1 · 9/10 · 8 May 2023]

If you only know of 'Attica' from a line of repeated dialogue in the excellent movie 'Dog Day Afternoon', you could do much worse than watch this documentary. What Attica was (and is) is the site of an American prison. Prison should not be luxurious, but often it's a living hell for its inmates, and it was at Attica, leading to a riot and takeover by the prisoners in 1971. The prisoners took hostages, forcing the authorities to negotiate, and in many ways their demands were reasonable. But then a hostage was killed, and the authorities stopped talking and sent in the men with guns. 39 further people, ten of them hostages, were killed by the assailants, and the surviving prisoners thereafter brutalised. The fact that the prison guards and troopers were all white, and the prisoners mostly (but not entirely) black, sadly hardly needs to be added. Moreover, the state governor Nelson Rockefeller, today often celebrated as the last supposedly liberal republican, arguably made his call not on its merits but because he wanted to be seen on the side of law and order. This film has a mixture of footage from the time, and interviews with those actually involved. It's a compelling reminder that it's not only criminals who are capable of savagery.

Absolutely heart wrenching & unimaginable

[suzihands · 10/10 · 10 July 2022]

Truth. It can be harder to believe than fiction.

Truth I believe, was told in this Documentary.

The Government of the day was more interested in being popular than being humane.

Nelson A. Rockefeller, Governor of the day, was more focussed on becoming Republican President of the USA than being compassionate.

Nixon showed his true colours.

I am a white woman of British, European & South American descent born & raised in Australia.

I cried hot wet tears for the last 30-40 minutes of this Doco & thought my heart would break.

How could this have even happened in my lifetime?

How could authorities have been so heartless?

How could those responsible for all but one death in that Prison never be brought to justice?

I saw Prisoners just wanting, needing, to be treated like human beings.

I saw white people, townsfolk, law enforcement, onlookers acting like 'good old boys' & thinking of all the prisoners as less than human.

Not knowing this part of America's shameful history, I did not think it would end the way it did.

This Documentary was excellently done & showed clearly the attitude of most white people from the day.

I am blessed to live in Australia although, our history is not spotless either.