New inmate Gerry Conlon (Daniel Day-Lewis) is
strip searched and covered with delousing
powder in In the Name of the Father.

On Entering Prison

A similar process occurs in both Numbered Men (1940) and The Shawshank Redemption (1996), but versions of this routine are present in nearly all prison films. Their significance centers on the prison's control of the body. As new inmates are stripped, examined, and washed, these movies accentuate the prisoner's transformation from outsider to insider. Perhaps most symbolic is the cutting of the hair (as seen in Papillon (1973) and Midnight Express(1978)), historically an attack on liberty and personal autonomy and, of course, visually the most noticeable difference between an inmate and a free man. The speed and mechanical implementation of these rules regarding the entry of a new inmate quickly establishes the regulated, institutional nature of prison. The machine begins to roll.

As movie-goers, we have limited knowledge of prison, and hence when a character enters prison, we too share their ignorance and fear of prison life. As an audience, we are subjected to the harsh regime of prison life, stern officers, and claustrophobic cells. Cinema is aware of our ignorance and often uses it to elicit sympathy for the new inmate, as when "Red" Kennedy (Humphrey Bogart) falls for an inmate prank in San Quentin (1937) and when James Rainbow trusts a well-known tobacco baron in The Pot Carriers (1962).