Showtime's Attica documentary doesn't need flashiness to be effective

The Washington Post

"Attica remains the deadliest prison rebellion in American history," says Inkoo Kang. "Emmy-winning documentarian Stanley Nelson (The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution) and co-director Traci Curry keep the memory of Attica alive by handing a proverbial microphone to those who were there. Airing Saturday night on Showtime after a brief theatrical release, the two-hour film is refreshingly old-fashioned in form, alternating almost entirely between original talking-head interviews and archival or on-the-ground footage (some of it never seen before and some other instances aurally difficult to make out). In a TV documentary landscape rife with flashy graphics, sensationalized revelations and shoehorned analysis, Attica stands out as a bracingly direct and appropriately sober testimonial. It creates space for former inmates, survivors of the deceased and other eyewitnesses to recall their experiences, as well as for viewers to make their own connections to today’s fights for justice." ALSO: Attica is a harrowing, infuriating look at racism and the abuse of power by people who see others as inhuman.