This documentary about a Buddhist meditation system introduced into a maximum-security Alabama prison is, well, mellow.

Filmed in a rudimentary fashion - there are many talking heads and establishing shots of concertina wire - it mentions how violent the Donaldson Correctional Facility is and recounts some of the awful crimes its inmates committed, but the film never projects any real sense of threat. It's pretty much a testimonial to the uplifting power of the challenging Vipassana technique, which starts with a 10-day intensive course of deep contemplation and mute silence.

This, naturally, is not the most cinematic of subjects, but the prisoners' testimonials are inspiring, and the difficulty of maintaining their peaceful practice back in the general (and Christianity-dominated) population rings poignantly true. Though compelling as far as it goes, a little more skepticism and drama would have made for a more engaging film and enhanced its message. But that may not even have been on the filmmakers' transcendent, nonconfrontational agenda.

>Bob Strauss