Dead Man Walking
The film, Dead Man Walking was made in 1995, and was adopted from Sister Helen Prejean's 1993 autobiographical book, which has the same title. It examines one of the most highly debated controversial issues of our time - capital punishment. Since the protagonist of a film is regarded as the "good guy," I would apply this label to Sister Helen Prajean, played by Susan Sarandon, and that of the antagonist, or the "bad guy" to Matthew Poncelet, played by Sean Penn. However, even though Sean Penn is definitely the "bad guy," by definition, my feelings changed as the film progressed with Sean's eventual understanding of the "enormity of his transgression." (Rozan, 17) The story presented in the film attracts the viewer because of the strong emotions, which are evoked by the violence of the murder and rape, but also by the actors themselves.
The issues of crime and punishment are examined from multiple viewpoints - the victim's family members, the killers,......
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Approximate Word Count: 1879
Approximate Pages: 8 (260 words per double-spaced page) |