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I was bored the other night, and having been thinking about B-movies recently, I immediately thought of Pam Grier prior Tarantino, particularly her stint in the 1970s with Jack Hill, who cast her in the majority of her early successes, including Coffy, and Foxy Brown. Anyway, I thought I'd try and catch her first starring role, the women-in-prison film The Big Doll House, so I looked it up on Youtube, and it was there! So I began watching it, and after 40 minutes I realised I was actually watching one of her later films.
The Big Bird Cage is a standard, women-in-prison film that follows a socialite (Anitra Ford) who is imprisoned wrongly during an incident started by Django (Sid Haig) and his lover, Blossom (Pam Grier). During her imprisonment, she and the other female inmates are subjected to an array of horrors, until they attempt to liberate themselves.
Positives
It's surprisingly complex for what looks like a run-of-the-mill exploitation film. Small interactions and scenes that initially seem to contain little importance later have severe consequences later on, which drastically affect the plot. A multitude of characters are followed as well, and although this somewhat restricts the film in some ways, it strengthens it in others, for their sub-plots and sidetracks eventually intertwine with the main plot with fluency. The dialogue always seems authentic, yet some of the character's actions can seem somewhat impulsive and not thought through very well at all, although such moments are few and far between!
I think the dialogue is particularly positive due to its deliverance. This is a low budget, B-movie, yet that doesn't necessarily determine that the acting will always be shoddy or sub-standard, and this films exemplifies that. It features a range of predominantly actresses who are skilled at what they do and have moulded their characters to make them their own, each one of them adds small nuances that make them distinctive and individual.
The eventual action scenes are entertaining as well, which can partially be attributed to the reasons above. The people involved are unique, lifelike, and therefore, you are slightly more drawn into what goes on. The violence isn't too gratuitous either (bar one scene in particular) and it doesn't go on forever, either.
Negatives
The direction is uninspired, although with such a minimal budget and little resources to work with, I can hardly blame him. It appears as though the director, Jack Hill, would eventually find his own way anyway with the now infamous films Coffy and Foxy Brown, which although I haven't seen yet, seem to be regarded as some of the greatest additions to the Blaxploitation genre. But in this regard, it's nothing innovative, although it never intends to be.
I already mentioned the gargantuan quantity of sub-plots and characters involved in this, many of which are used to illustrate certain themes or commentaries, one woman is treat as an animal due to mental illness, a black and a white woman feud before eventually uniting etc.
It's all underdeveloped, it's like it's trying to make some sort of social commentary on the treatment of the mentally ill, or the state of racial tensions, but it never goes into depth about it. It's a bit underwhelming and confusing really, and the film probably would have been greater with these segments edited out.
One scene that was implemented just to shock with no other purpose was a gang rape scene. The female prisoners take it upon themselves to deal with their horny-ness by raping a gay male guard who was fairly compassionate to them, and was never brutal towards them. It was a bit disturbing, and very out of character for pretty much every character involved. It seems quite homophobic to me, particularly the phrase "men who are only half men" which does personally offend me. Anyway, it is only a small part of the film, and this was the early 70s so it's not that surprising.
Conclusion
It is an above average genre piece, it's a women-in-prison film with some genuine substance, and a variety of interesting characters who each handle their imprisonment differently. Nevertheless, it's nothing spectacular, but worth a look if this is your type of thing
The Big Bird Cage is a standard, women-in-prison film that follows a socialite (Anitra Ford) who is imprisoned wrongly during an incident started by Django (Sid Haig) and his lover, Blossom (Pam Grier). During her imprisonment, she and the other female inmates are subjected to an array of horrors, until they attempt to liberate themselves.
Positives
It's surprisingly complex for what looks like a run-of-the-mill exploitation film. Small interactions and scenes that initially seem to contain little importance later have severe consequences later on, which drastically affect the plot. A multitude of characters are followed as well, and although this somewhat restricts the film in some ways, it strengthens it in others, for their sub-plots and sidetracks eventually intertwine with the main plot with fluency. The dialogue always seems authentic, yet some of the character's actions can seem somewhat impulsive and not thought through very well at all, although such moments are few and far between!
I think the dialogue is particularly positive due to its deliverance. This is a low budget, B-movie, yet that doesn't necessarily determine that the acting will always be shoddy or sub-standard, and this films exemplifies that. It features a range of predominantly actresses who are skilled at what they do and have moulded their characters to make them their own, each one of them adds small nuances that make them distinctive and individual.
The eventual action scenes are entertaining as well, which can partially be attributed to the reasons above. The people involved are unique, lifelike, and therefore, you are slightly more drawn into what goes on. The violence isn't too gratuitous either (bar one scene in particular) and it doesn't go on forever, either.
Negatives
The direction is uninspired, although with such a minimal budget and little resources to work with, I can hardly blame him. It appears as though the director, Jack Hill, would eventually find his own way anyway with the now infamous films Coffy and Foxy Brown, which although I haven't seen yet, seem to be regarded as some of the greatest additions to the Blaxploitation genre. But in this regard, it's nothing innovative, although it never intends to be.
I already mentioned the gargantuan quantity of sub-plots and characters involved in this, many of which are used to illustrate certain themes or commentaries, one woman is treat as an animal due to mental illness, a black and a white woman feud before eventually uniting etc.
It's all underdeveloped, it's like it's trying to make some sort of social commentary on the treatment of the mentally ill, or the state of racial tensions, but it never goes into depth about it. It's a bit underwhelming and confusing really, and the film probably would have been greater with these segments edited out.
One scene that was implemented just to shock with no other purpose was a gang rape scene. The female prisoners take it upon themselves to deal with their horny-ness by raping a gay male guard who was fairly compassionate to them, and was never brutal towards them. It was a bit disturbing, and very out of character for pretty much every character involved. It seems quite homophobic to me, particularly the phrase "men who are only half men" which does personally offend me. Anyway, it is only a small part of the film, and this was the early 70s so it's not that surprising.
Conclusion
It is an above average genre piece, it's a women-in-prison film with some genuine substance, and a variety of interesting characters who each handle their imprisonment differently. Nevertheless, it's nothing spectacular, but worth a look if this is your type of thing