Jacobean Drama – “Sleepers”
The major feature about Jacobean plays is the theme of society’s moral corruption. Other features are violence, revenge, and overall what we can define as “dirty feelings”.
The movie I chose follows the description of Jacobean drama very closely. The movie I chose was “Sleepers” with Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Kevin Bacon, Dustin Huffman, among others. The movie is about a group of kids, all best friends. The kids don’t have stable homes and spend all day on the streets getting in all kinds of trouble. The only person who seems to care for them and their future is a priest played by Robert De Niro.
One day just looking to “have fun” the kids knock off a hot dog cart. When trying to escape from the angry vendor, the kids knock the cart off the subway stairs and almost kill an elderly man. This is when the real story begins. The boys are sentenced to a year at Wilkinson Home for Boys. A place where they are abused and raped on a daily basis. A guard played by Kevin Bacon, makes their lives miserable for no reason, just because he is an evil person who enjoys harming the innocence on kids. The portion of the movie when they are being victims of rapes and humiliations are clear representations of society’s moral corruption and violence, which I mentioned are the main themes in Jacobean drama.
The experience changed the kid’s lives forever. After many years pass by, revenge comes. One night at a bar they recognize the guard who made suffer so much and shoot him dead. When the trial comes and they have to face murder charges for killing a man, the only thing that can help them is the testimony of the priest who after all, always looked out for them. At the end they are declared not guilty and celebrate the revenge.
I watched “Sleepers” when I was 14 years old. At the time I couldn’t really understand what was going on in the movie. All I was able to appreciate was the horrendous violence and abuse the kids suffered, how they were able to finally have a revenge, and how the priest testimony helped them avoid legal punishment for killing their abusers.
Here is the link to the preview and the full movie. It has very strong scenes of sex abuse and violence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXyD0GQZ8Fg
2 responses so far
Great find for the assignment! Glad I read through your post because it made me want to watch the movie. I’ll let you know what I think of it!
Ive never seen sleepers but I’ve heard great reviews about it. Reading your post made me want to go watch the movie once i have the chance. I enjoyed reading the connection you made between sleepers and Jacobian Drama.