Abstract

[Toughts on prison and the city starting from the film Ariaferma]. The film Ariaferma serves as a point of reflection on the condition of the prison in the city. Whilst the city is built on relationships, not only does the prison in the city has no relationship with the city, but within the prison, relationships between people are destined to dissolve, too. The prison’s “logic” of separation and segregation can be seen as the negation of the city’s “logic” of relationship. The film Ariaferma moves from this awareness of the prison as the opposite of the city, but its final scene sheds a light on a different reality. Thus, two main legal reflections need to be made. First, punishment does not necessarily mean incarceration: as an extrema ratio, prison and segregation ought to be destined only to violent and serious crime (especially organized crime). Secondly, within the prison itself, more open and humane dynamics should be created, aiming at the model of “prison as a city”.