Dead Man Walking – A Film by Tim Robbins

I saw this as a young teen in the cinema when it came out. There are just two films that have made me ache to tears, this was one of them. I don’t mean just a weepy film, I mean a film that is so powerful, so gut-wrenching, that involuntary staccato sobs emit from a person who’s wildly trying to suppress outburst. I think I was leaning towards anti-death penalty even at that young age, but I remember coming out of the cinema feeling a different person than had gone in. If there was any part of me that was sitting on the fence previously, this film made sure how I felt about capital punishment. That’s my backstory to the experience of watching the film, which may seem just irrelevant. Recently, I happened upon the film again. I almost didn’t want to see it, for fear that it would be much less powerful. So many films age horribly, but here I needn’t have worried. I was struck again by what an incredible film this is. Susan Sarandon gives the performance of her life. So does Sean Penn. The script is pitch-perfect. The pacing is inspired. Tim Robbins, who directed this and co-wrote it, was the then partner of Sarandon. I don’t know whether that relationship helped to form some basis of trust that was so conducive to this extremely vulnerable role she took on, but rarely have I seen any actor dig so deep. What impresses me most though about this film is that it’s almost like a documentary in that sentimentality is kept to a real minimum. Yes, we follow Sister Helen Prejean through her unflinching optimism and courage, but throughout the film we’re reminded of the sheer brutality of the crimes. Flashbacks to the night of the heinous crimes of Matthew Poncelet (Penn). Flashbacks, too, of Sister Prejean as a child participating in the senseless and violent killing of a beaver/groundhog. Nobody comes out smelling like roses. Everyone has their cross to bear, the devil on their backs. Just some more than others. The end result of this film, for me, was this agonising emotion at the pointlessness of it all. We’re torn between feeling great sympathy for Sister Prejean, who herself is torn between helping Matthew Poncelet reach redemption, and wondering whether her time spent with the victims’ families would be the better service to God. We feel the great sympathy for those families, and for the two innocent young people brutally murdered. And we feel immensely sorry for the mother and brothers of the murderer and rapist. And even sympathy for him. The crime was horrendous and pointless, and the punishment felt just the same. There’s no shirking away from the difficulties of portraying this on film; I have immense respect to Tim Robbins for this. The final moments of Penn’s life is about making the audience watch. It’s slow, almost feeling like real time, as we watch Poncelet being shaved, his last walk to the death chamber, the grotesque reality of strapping a body down tightly that doesn’t resist, so that we can watch other humans kill a human, watching each cylinder filled with toxic chemicals empty into his veins. It’s truly horrendous, and this film makes you wake up to that truth. The soundtrack is great, particularly a pieced called The Face of Love, written and performed exclusively for this film by Pakistan’s most revered Sufi singer, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder. Tablas and sitars abound. It’s played numerous times through the film, giving it this earthy, organic, melancholic sensuality. The melodic lines are so simple, but transcendent. It reminds me of plainchant. Just the other week, I was listening to the jazz ensemble, the Esbjorn Svensson Trio. Up popped a song I hadn’t heard of theirs before, and I instantly recognised it but it took some serious wracking of the grey cells before recalling it as being the same piece from the film. Even the cover holds this mystical quality. I’m so glad this film is on Blu-Ray now, and to have it to watch again. To sum it up, this was one of the best films of the Hollywood 90’s. It hasn’t aged, which goes a very long way to securing itself as a Classic. It’s a great shame that it’s not shown on television regularly. I wish everyone saw this film. At any rate, this film changed me profoundly and aggressively, and the way it changed me has reverberated through my core beliefs for 26 years. How often can you say that about a film?

Great movie, the extras were awesome

I originally had this movie on tape and finally bought it on blu-ray. Incredible movie and amazing performances. I have no words to describe Sean Penn’s performance. I highly recommend and I am looking forward to seeing this movie again. This movie will make you see both sides of the coin of the death penalty debate.