Eloquence keeps turning up in the midst of jargon and there is nothing so eloquent as the last line of the film, spoken on the soundtrack by an ex-inmate who would shake the public out of its historic disinterest in penal reform. 'Wake up,' he says, 'because nothing comes to a sleeper but a dream.'"

In light of current events and reports of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees by US authorities in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, and at other secret locations, Attica has particularly significant relevance today.