Movie Review “Dead Man
Walking”
Plot
Matthew Poncelet who is the condemned for
murdering a teenage couple has been in prison for six years. Matthew murdered
the couple with his friend Carl Vitello. However Carl was not the condemned and
received life imprisonment. Matthew insisted that he didn’t kill the couple and
Carl killed them. He wrote the letter to Sister Helen who works for poor people
and asked her to help him. She visited Matthew and decided to help him. She
ordered the court retrial for Matthew. However her order was declined. Mathew
asked Sister Helen to become his counselor until the day of execution. After
that, Sister Helen visited the victims’ families and talked with them. They blamed
her that she tried to help the condemned. She asked the mayor who thinks
execution is not appropriate to abolish death penalty but it was declined. The
day before of the execution, Matthew met his family and told his mother “I love
you”. The day of his execution, he confessed to Sister Helen that he killed the
boy and raped the girl. He also said he prayed for them. Right before execution,
Matthew apologized to the boy’s father and told the girl’s parents that his
death would bring them peace. After his execution, the boy's father attended Matthew’s
burial ceremony. Sister Helen told him that they could help each other and they
prayed.
Review
I thought the movie is quite controversial
because it shows the both sides’ point of views which are pros and cons to
death penalty. Some people in the movie such as Sister Helen or the mayor are
against death penalty and they think death penalty should be banned. On the
other hand, victims’ families think death penalty is appropriate and Matthew is
deserved to be executed. Matthew’s mother believes her son’s innocence and
still loves him. However victims’ families think Matthew is evil. This contrast
is really impressive to me. At first, I thought death penalty is appropriate
and Matthew should be executed but gradually my mind changed and in the end of
the movie I could not say whether death penalty is appropriate. Of course,
murdering is bad thing but executing the murder might be pointless. Victims
never come back even though the murder was executed. I was also surprised how
impersonal the execution is. In the movie, Matthew’s execution was carried out
so inhumanely. People treated him not as human being but as a thing. Right
before his execution he said “I don't wanna leave this world with any hate in
my heart. I ask your forgiveness for what I done. It was a terrible thing I
done, taking your son away from you.” as his last words. I thought it was
really shocking and wonder if there is any other way for Matthew to atone for
his murder. I think “Dead Man Walking” is good to let people think whether
death penalty is really appropriate.
MLA
Dead man walking.
Dir. Tim Robbins. Perf. Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Raymond J. Barry, Robert
Prosky . Credence Cassettes, 1995. DVD
This is a very good review, Kenta. You explained the story well and I was pleased to see how the film led you to change (or, at least, question) your views on the death penalty. I had the same experience when I watched the movie. You may know it already, but this movie was based on the real-life story of a Catholic sister, Sister Helen Prejean. She wrote a memoir of her experiences as a death row counselor and it was eventually adapted for the screen and it became "Dead Man Walking." Sean Penn has a brilliant performance in the film as so does Susan Sarandon. I hope other members of the class can see this film someday. It's a dark film, but an important one.
返信削除You can read about the real-life story of Sister Helen Prejean at...
http://www.americancatholic.org/messenger/Apr1996/feature1.asp
Clear skies,
Joseph D.