PALE ANGUISH KEEPS
1992 · 9m
P.A.K. is an intensely personal document expressing the alienation, pain, and trauma of a prison experience. Using techniques of German expressionism, it examines the social and institutional forces that inform one's subjective self-definition. Stark contrasts, are combined with harsh prison reality with escape into the fantasy, beauty, and grace of classical ballet. The conflict is underscored by elements of the sound track: reverberating prison noises, the uncompromising music of punk rock and voice-over readings from the poetic works of notable writers and political prisoners Oscar Wilde and Breyton Bretonbach.
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