Ruined Palace (1999)
Rating 5 out of 5 on Review.
- Original title: Brokedown Palace
- Year: 1999
- Country: USA
- Duration: 100 min.
- Director: Jonathan Kaplan
- Genre: thriller, drama, detective
- Starring: Claire Danes, Kate Beckinsale, Bill Pullman, Jacqueline Kim, Lou Diamond Phillips, Daniel Lapaine, Tom Amandes, Aimee Graham, John Doe, Kay Tong Lim
- Age: 12+
- KinoPoisk rating: 7,10
Two friends Alice Marano and Darlene Davis decide to go to Thailand to celebrate their high school graduation. Sun, sea, exoticism and... a new acquaintance, charming Australian Nick Parks - charming, mysterious and inspiring boundless trust.
Falling in love and recklessness overshadow common sense, and, succumbing to Nick's persuasion, the girlfriends go to Hong Kong for the weekend. A fabulous journey turns into a nightmare: straight from the airport, the girls end up in a Thai prison: heroin was found in Alice’s backpack...
Intimacy (2008)
Rating 5 out of 5 on Review.
- Original title: Affinity
- Year: 2008
- Country: UK, Romania, Canada
- Duration: 120 min.
- Director: Tim Fywell
- Genre: drama, melodrama
- Starring: Zoe Tapper, Anna Madeley, Dominie Blythe, Amanda Plummer, Mary Jo Randle, Caroline Lonc, Anne Reid, Vincent Leclerc, Anna Massey, Ferelit Young
- KinoPoisk rating: 6,89
Aristocrat Margaret Pryor experiences the death of her father and a past love. She decides to volunteer at the women's prison in Millbrook, full of women who have committed serious crimes.
How many prisons are there in Russia and what kind of regimes are there?
Currently, according to the Federal Penitentiary Service, there are 35 women’s correctional colonies in Russia. About 60,000 women and girls are serving their sentences in these institutions, which is 5% of the total number of prisoners in Russia. About thirteen thousand of them are minors (read more about how life is for inmates of female juvenile colonies here).
In a general regime colony, convicts serve time for serious criminal acts committed for the first time, as well as for crimes of minor and medium gravity, if the judicial authority considers that the correction of such persons is impossible in a settlement. A strict regime is applied only to repeat offenders and especially cruel murderers.
In addition to correctional colonies, there are institutions such as pre-trial detention centers, in which convicts are under investigation and awaiting further distribution. There are three women's pre-trial detention centers in Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg).
Read more about the main differences between a maximum security colony and a general colony and others here, and learn about how they live in a maximum security colony, what it is and why it’s better not to go there, in this material.
Provoked (2006)
Rating 5 out of 5 on Review.
- Original title: Provoked: A True Story
- Year: 2006
- Country: UK, India
- Duration: 113 min.
- Director: Jag Mundra
- Genre: drama, crime, biography
- Starring: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Miranda Richardson, Naveen Andrews, Ray Panthaki, Nandita Das, Robbie Coltrane, Raji James, Leena Dhingra, Claire Louise Amias, Wendy Albiston
- KinoPoisk rating: 7,58
Unable to bear the cruelty and constant beatings any longer, battered Punjabi housewife and mother of two, Kiranjeet Ahluwalia sets her abusive, alcoholic husband, Deepak Ahluwalia, on fire, unintentionally killing him. She is accused of murder and her case comes to the attention of a group of South Asian workers who are members of an organization called the Black Sisters of Southall. After she goes to prison, she becomes close to her cellmate, a white woman named Veronica Scott, who teaches her English. Veronica is also friends with several girls in prison and sides with Kiranjit against the local bully.
One day, while Kiranjit is defending himself from this bully, Veronica realizes what a good man Kiranjit is and recruits her half-brother, Edward Foster, a highly respected royal consul, to her cause. He promises to appeal. Edward, in turn, understands the importance of Kiranjit to his sister and the gravity of her case. His sister's request has added significance considering that Veronica wouldn't allow him to help her with her own appeal thanks to their relationship since childhood.
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005)
Rating 4.1 out of 5 on Review.
- Original title: Chinjeolhan Geumjassi
- Year: 2005
- Country: South Korea
- Duration: 115 min.
- Director: Park Chan-wook
- Genre: thriller, drama, crime
- Starring: Lee Young-ae, Choi Min-sik, Kim Shi-hu, Kwon Ye-young, Nam Il-woo, Kim Byung-ok, Oh Dal-soo, Lee Seung-shin, Kim Bu-sung, Ra Mi-ran
- Age: 18+
- KinoPoisk rating: 7,53
See also: List of 20 Best South Korean Dramas of 2021
19-year-old Lee Geum-ja is imprisoned on false charges of kidnapping and murdering a child. In prison, a woman hatches a plan for revenge and wins the hearts of the prisoners with her kindness, gaining the name Kindhearted Lady Geum-ja. After serving 13 years, the avenger, with the help of her prison friends, goes to look for the one who ruined her life.
Girl (2008)
Rating 4.6 out of 5 on Review.
- Year: 2008
- Country Russia
- Duration: 129 min.
- Director: Elena Nikolaeva
- Genre: drama, melodrama
- Starring: Elena Nikolaeva, Alexander Lazarev Jr., Evdokia Germanova, Sergei Belyaev, Tatyana Dogileva, Maria Poroshina, Evgenia Dmitrieva, Laura Keosayan, Kristina Babushkina, Mikhail Vladimirov
- Age: 18+
- KinoPoisk rating: 7,33
See also: TOP 11 Russian and foreign TV series about women's prison
Lena Yartseva, Moscow schoolgirl. She has an ordinary family with a modest income. Lena loves to dream about a beautiful life and spends a lot of time in the nearest shopping center, where the kingdom of dreams is, and her reflection, usually a dressed girl, looks out from the mirror. The difference between her desires and the capabilities of her parents is too great. Maximalism, rage, and temper take their toll: Lena quarrels with her parents and leaves home.
The internal fracture of the soul and will is a poorly studied and predictable process. Sometimes many troubles are not enough to change, sometimes it turns out that looking at yourself in the mirror is enough. A sharp needle of compassion and self-love pierced Lena when she saw her reflection...
Pre-trial detention center for women - what is it?
A pre-trial detention center stands for a pre-trial detention center in which there are persons under investigation, namely, those people whose criminal case is under investigation or legal proceedings and who are awaiting further distribution to a correctional institution or colony.
All other institutions of this type in Russia are mixed, where both men and women serve their sentences. Unlike some men’s detention centers, where certain “concepts” may apply in everyday life, for women everything is simpler and relatively freer. The main attention is paid to everyday life and the distribution of responsibilities between cellmates.
Four Minutes (2006)
Rating 4.5 out of 5 on Review.
- Original title: Vier Minuten
- Year: 2006
- Country: Germany
- Duration: 112 min.
- Director: Chris Kraus
- Genre: drama, music
- Starring: Monika Bleibtreu, Hannah Herzsprung, Sven Pippig, Richie Müller, Yasmin Tabatabai, Stefan Kurth, Vadim Glovna, Nadja Uhl, Peter Davor, Edita Malovcic
- KinoPoisk rating: 7,72
See also: TOP 29 most rated films about prison escapes
An elderly woman takes a job as a piano teacher in a women's prison. Four prisoners sign up for lessons, one of whom has hanged herself, another is nervous, the third is unremarkable, and the fourth has God's gift to make a magnificent sound out of an ordinary piano.
The teacher could not believe that such a lost person, rotting within four concrete walls, was capable of playing joyful black music so perfectly with a musical instrument, despite all her hardships and the case brought against her for murder. An elderly teacher sees her gift and gives her a helping hand, offering to develop her talent and perform at some concerts of young composers.
I'll Be Better (2012)
Rating 4.5 out of 5 on Review.
- Original title: Ombline
- Year: 2012
- Country: France, Belgium
- Duration: 95 min.
- Director: Stefan Kaz
- Genre: drama
- Starring: Mélanie Thierry, Nathalie Becu, Corina Masiero, Catherine Salé, Dunia Hdia, Gaelle Gente, Martha Corton Vinals, Patrice Bure, Nicole Wahlberg, Tishu Canet
- Age: 12+
- KinoPoisk rating: 6,82
Twenty-year-old Omblina was sentenced to three years in prison for attacking a police officer. Finding herself in prison and losing hope for a bright future, the girl unexpectedly finds out that she is pregnant. Eight months later, she gives birth to a boy, Lucas, a ray of hope. But according to French law, Omblina can only be with her son for the first year and a half. Not wanting to put up with this, the girl decides to convince the judge that she is able to raise her son after his release.
PS Can you share your favorite films about women's prison in the comments?)
