How to Write a Prison On Fire Script?

The Kaohsiung Daliao Prison hostage incident is just like the movie "Prison On Fire." Because prisons are indeed shrouded in dark secrets and life inside is hard. Yao-tsai accidentally committed murder and had understandable reasons for entering prison. Young, capable, and upright, he could not adapt to life in the dark cells. Fortunately, with the help of the veteran inmate Ah-cheng, true friendship in adversity moved the audience. However, the six inmates "not knowing how they would die" were by no means Chow Yun-fat and Tony Leung. They were gang members who were truly bad and not likable at all. They were neither handsome and cool movie stars, nor did anyone want to know the stories of their lives.

The Kaohsiung Daliao Prison hostage incident was not "Prison On Fire" because there were no ferocious prison guards. Taiwan's Ah-cheng and Yao-tsai did not end up fighting to the death with the arrogant Hsiung-ko. Roy Cheung (Chang Yao-yang) played the villainy of Hsiung-ko so vividly that he became one of the four major villains of Hong Kong cinema. Prison guards, who should have been the embodiment of justice, lorded it over others in prison, framing and shifting blame, showing even less humanity than the prisoners. The ultimate counterattack by the inmates was deeply satisfying, and the audience applauded in approval.

What Play Is Taiwan Putting On?

"Prison On Fire" is so brilliant that it is deeply engraved in people's hearts. The first time it was staged in Taiwan, it started out tense and suspenseful. However, as time passed, with heavy police forces, layers of media, and crowds of spectators—waiting in vain for intense gunfight scenes—some people began to shout that the bad play was dragging on, demanding refunds to leave early and wrap things up.

The inmates took administrators, alternative military service draftees, the security section chief, and the warden and deputy warden hostage. Why did these prison guards, who should have been ferocious, walk away unscathed with no one suffering the ultimate counterattack by the inmates? Weren't they supposed to be lording it over others and lacking more humanity than the prisoners? How could they not even be subjected to the slightest abuse?

Although dramatic, the prisoners were also "too humane." They elevated what should have been a selfish prison escape into the realm of "prison administration reform." Demanding that the Director-General of the Agency of Corrections read out five major statements was truly more Corrections Agency than the Corrections Agency itself. Even more baffling was the ending. The six men just like that drank alcohol, fired shots into the air (to vent), released their hostages, and committed suicide. The warden walked out holding a gun (or without a gun), completely unscathed.

Just as everyone had yet to react, everything came to an abrupt halt. This was so unlike "Prison On Fire"! It felt like a substandard dark farce, homework written overnight by a freshman drama major on the eve of the end of summer vacation. The teacher's comment would be: The storyline fails to resonate with the audience, the conflict between people or between people and the environment is unclear, and the beginning, development, turn, and conclusion lack all logic and sense of hierarchy.

Absurdity Breeds Sorrow

If you genuinely want to understand the situation in correctional institutions, it only takes three minutes to read the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission's 2011 report, "Preliminary Thoughts on Prison Administration Reform." If you are too lazy even to click it open, it means the readers are merely fans of "Prison On Fire," not advocates for prison administration reform.

The core problem of correctional institutions is manpower shortage. The main reason for the manpower shortage is flawed criminal policies. These include unreasonable drug control policies and policy goals focused on the heavy isolation of prisoners rather than their rehabilitation. Ultimately, we just want to exclude criminals from society, turn a blind eye, and let them fend for themselves. At the same time, we use a zoom-in angle to magnify and examine potentially dangerous behaviors in society and heavily criminalize them.

Consequently, with no ramp controls at the entrance, a steady stream of offenders pours in. With prolonged heavy imprisonment, zero rehabilitation, and not a sliver of hope, prison riots are merely a matter of time. Dying in confinement is still dying; escaping and rioting, at worst, ends in death. Choosing the latter can hardly be considered an irrational act.

Once you understand the structural causes, watching this dark farce again makes it seem not so absurd. The prison guards, who should have been ferocious, were merely a group of "colleagues" trapped together with the prisoners. Reformation is not the priority; with insufficient manpower, they cannot even manage high-pressure control over prisoners, leaving prison guards to beg for any method of "peaceful coexistence" with the inmates. They lack the capital to act like Hsiung-ko.

Alternatively, using major gang bosses to manage minor ones is like drinking poison to quench thirst, reinforcing the law of the jungle within the prison. When Yao-tsai cannot find an Ah-cheng, he serves his sentence with bitter resentment, and upon leaving prison, seeks out even weaker individuals to prey upon. Or they "fraternize" with inmates, talking about code of loyalty and calling each other brothers, begging only for no trouble. You back me, I cover you, and everyone remains safe.

Thus, White Wolf and Brother Tung both arrived, because they are also brothers of loyalty. Someone had stepped onto someone else's turf or crossed someone else's red line; while they had unavoidable grievances, they also breached the code of loyalty and needed to negotiate according to underworld principles. Negotiations are fine; after all, we disrupted our brother's turf, and the brother is likely disgraced with no hope of promotion.

However, to whom can one pour out the grievances of this forced disruption? There is no one more suitable than the Director-General of the Agency of Corrections. Once the Director-General finished reading, the whole country heard it, but I wonder if anyone actually listened? Nevertheless, regardless of the audience's reaction, the play had to go on. Having written three endings for themselves, none of which were approved by the higher-ups, they could only choose to play out the tragic one.

Whether to make the warden pay with his life for disrupting his turf depended entirely on a single thought. The Ministry of Justice did not dare say too many harsh words against the warden who stood firm on the front line. Because correctional personnel are also victims of flawed policies, and the Ministry of Justice is the true perpetrator of the problem. Therefore, the review report simply sought to smooth things over; once the spotlight passed, the news would too. When the tea grows cold everyone leaves, and the mess is left to the successor.

Imagine if prison personnel were normally like Hsiung-ko; escaping prisoners, upon acquiring firepower, would certainly vent their anger first. Such a plot would not be absurd—it would be the actual staging of "Prison On Fire." Taiwan's premiere in history, precisely because of its absurdity, is all the more heartbreaking.