DEAD MAN WALKING
A film review by Michael J. Zwirn
Copyright 1996 Michael J. Zwirn
I saw Dead Man Walking this past week at the Mall of America. This is an adaptation of a book by Sister Helen Prejean of New Orleans, relating her work with two death row inmates in Angola Prison in Louisiana.
It's not hard to give away much of the plot for this story, simply because there isn't much of one. That's not a criticism; this film is a fine character portrayal that offers Susan Sarandon as Sister Helen and Sean Penn as a condemned inmate the chance to develop strong and three-dimensional subjects. The point isn't to develop a convoluted plot but to create the human element of a painful and ambiguous true story.
Superficially, this plot could be described as a prison drama with Penn attempting to escape his imminent execution by whatever means possible with Sister Helen's help. That would be misleading. Really, there's no doubt that Penn is not only culpable, but a deeply flawed human being who will not admit his own complicity but is quick to blame the faults of others -- blacks, lawyers, police, his accomplice, anyone. As his execution nears the inescapability of his situation becomes more clear, Sister Helen's motivation changes from achieving a temporal reprieve for Penn to helping him to achieve an eternal spiritual reconciliation with him soul and God.
Particularly strong points in the film-making were the portrayal of Sister Helen's developing friendship with Penn, through the bars or windows of the prison (the two cannot touch one another until Penn is on his way to the execution room), the acting of the supporting characters representing the families of the murder victims, and the soundtrack, which deserves special praise. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Eddie Vedder of all people duet on the haunting music during the climactic final scene, during which the execution is quickcut with the murders (which are seen only in flashback). Other artists on the score include Springsteen, Suzanne Vega, Lyle Lovett and Michelle Shocked, who is reemerging from an extended exile from recording.
There are some weak points in the story -- Would a murderer appealing his death sentence really praise Hitler in a TV interview? And must we be bombarded with images of the malliciousness and hypocrisy of the government and the prison authorities, if the larger point of the movie is to demonstrate the acceptance of personal responsibility for one's actions? But this is a very strong movie which will certainly get Oscar nominations for both Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon, and deservedly so. It's the best work Penn has ever done and Sarandon is better than usual. Especially praiseworthy in this film is the deliberate ambiguity of the filmmakers on the volatile issue of the death penalty -- there is no one-sided propagandizing on the question, and both the accused and the victims' families make stng cases. Also notable is the portrayal of a representative of the Church as a real human being rather than a figurehead for a larger institution.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
-- Michael J. Zwirn zwirnm@carleton.edu Carleton College Northfield MN Senior/International Relations Major/KRLX-FM Station Manager/Pop Music Freak http://public.carleton.edu/~zwirnm/index.html
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