Documentary review: Storyville. Russia's Toughest Prison: The Condemned

This is Russia's prison for its most dangerous men; 260 inmates convicted of 800 murders collectively. The documentary, shown as a part of the BBC4 Storyville series, was as interesting as it was depressing. It focused on half a dozen prisoners, the governor and, briefly, a handful of family members and takes us through how they came to be in prison, their guilt, prison hierarchy, family and their future, giving an insight into thoughts and lives, or rather existences, of some of its prisoners and, to a lesser extent, of others involved. Welcome to a world of thin faces, sunken eyes and missing teeth in mouths offering few smiles. a place where hope and hopelessness vie for supremacy in the minds of people who have much to fear on both sides of the walls.

All along the watchtower

The prisoners shared certain routes into crime: an alcohol-induced fight, poverty or the 'war-like mentality' of 1990s Russia. Each of the featured men accepted their guilt for the crimes but the attitudes varied - regret of their unwise youthfulness or their drinking and the acceptance that it was a part of their nature or their 'talent'.

Timur

The governor had been working there 26 years, noting the irony of a contract longer than any convict's stretch. Convinced of their guilt, he had no pity for the men for committing such crimes and no expectation of rehabilitation. He advocated the death penalty, arguing that people who were against it had never looked into such criminal's eyes, for instance the killer of eight who joked about it with friends. He regretted Russia's decision to suspend capital punishment in 1996.

The Governor, Subkhan Dadashiov

The end of the death penalty saw those sentences commuted to 25 years imprisonment with stricter regimes instead. This was too much for some, who killed themselves within minutes of hearing the news. The length of the time in such an environment clearly led to cabin fever for the inmates and revealed the fragility of the mind even among the most hardened... 'What will the world be like when I leave? How will I start life anew? Will my family stand by me or even be alive then? Twenty-five years, here, so far from loved ones.'

Albert

Isolation is a key issue: the most dangerous criminals only get 30 minutes outside a day for the fresh air and exercise. Even that is in a cage. Also, the prison is located 7 hours from the nearest city, isolating them further, and so far for family that it becomes too time-consuming or expensive to use the two visits permitted annually. Both sets of family shown hadn't been for five years.

Maxim's mother

The discussion of family brought up the astonishing case of a Andrei, convicted of raping and murdering a child, who met a woman through a lonely hearts ad. She had been raped and her father murdered and wanted to communicate with such a criminal to understand. They fell in love, got married, enjoyed the conjugal rights and he now had two children he'd never set eyes on. A baffling case that left me unable to believe the woman's actions beyond trying to comprehend or the man for knowing what fate he was abandoning the wife and children to.

Prisoners lining up in the courtyard

The prisoners' psychological vulnerability is again shown when discussing family, this is when their emotions start to come through, an element of humanity, eyes well up with tears. In contrast, they can talk about their crimes, as you or I would discuss what we had for lunch, and have no regret or remorse. A similar paradox was that three hardened men convicted of heinous crimes made mention of television, describing it as 'filth' and full of violence and pornography, which went against how they were brought up to respect women.

As for the future, Maxim admits that he will murder again, knowing that envy of what others have will lead him to kill. Timur appears to have mellowed on discovering Greek philosophy in prison, yet is one of those talking impassively about his crimes. For Vladimir, repentance is not achieved through serving your sentence but by suicide or standing before god.

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Comment:

The Russian prison in this film seemed in stark contrast to the images of western ones on in the media and the newspaper reports of British-based prisoners going to court for loss of human rights. The only right that the featured Russian prisoners had over their British counterparts was conjugal visits. The conditions were bleak with little in the way of entertainment - a prisoner is meant to reflect on their actions, which is no bad thing. The level of isolation is cruel; so far from family, from civilisation, from leaving the cell behind and so far from hope.

Luxury conditions in some UK jails. Daily Telegraph

Nor was there anything in this Russian prison in the way of rehabilitation or paving the way for release. Yes, these are some of the worst criminals in Russia but the system means that they will be released after 25 years, like it or not. There isn't even the pretense of preparing them and, with nothing being done to that end, the prisoners are time bombs waiting to go off, god knows where or when. It also leaves the prisoners devoid of hope; even if truly sorry and reformed, circumstance may well force them back to crime to survive. It's a seemingly pointless exercise but not enough to merit the governor's answer of the death penalty. To me, it's not really the answer in a justice system replete with controversy.

It appears to me that people remember the victims and the impact on their family and friends; people also sympathise with the criminals. Ultimately though, I felt most sorry for the prisoners' families in this film, the forgotten victims of crime; the mothers raising children alone, the daughter with effectively one grandparent fewer to her newborn and most heartbreakingly, Maxim's mother. She hadn't been able to afford to visit in five years didn't expect to ever visit again due to the costs. As her son said, "Don't cry. We'll see each other again in twenty years."

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The documentary can be viewed online on BBC iplayer until mid-November here.
The official site for the film is here, with further information.