Member review

Dead Man Walking, directed by Tim Robbins, is the extraordinary story of two people brought together by chance, who change each other's lives. Sean Penn delivers an exceptional performance as Mathew Poncelot, a condemned murderer on death row. Poncelot writes a letter to a nun named Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon) and she becomes his spiritual mentor. Penn and Sarandon are wonderful together. At first, Sister Prejean doesn't quite know what to think of this man. He keeps claiming that he is innocent and wants a lie detector test. Flashback scenes are used to show Sister Prejean picturing his crime. Penn plays Poncelot well, as the convict gives Sister Prejean a unnerving first impression of himself. There is something inside of Poncelot though, something Sister Prejean, as well as the viewer, can see in his eyes, a living breathing human being, not just a monster. This progressively shows more and more throughout the film as Sister Prejean grows to like him and care about his wellbeing. Many times, during Dead Man Walking, the viewer catches a glimpse of the murder scene. Truly powerful and heart wrenching, these scenes show Poncelot and another man carry out their crime in the pitch-black woods and this is shot very convincingly. Dead Man Walking concentrates a great deal on camera angles. These new ways of shooting give the movie a more artistic feel. For example, in one scene, when Poncelot and Sister Prejean are talking across from each other with glass in between them, the reflection of the other face can be seen next to the speaker. These new camera angles are a pleasure to watch. There is quite a bit of intertwining of scenes, yet they are easy to understand and are very creative. Dead Man Walking is a very emotional movie. From seeing the victims' parents tell their stories, to Poncelot himself, the actors show us what it feels like to go through things many of us cannot even imagine; being convicted of murder, losing a child, seeing someone you care about put to death. Penn's depiction of Poncelot's fear is very scary to think about. The ultimate theme is that killing is wrong, whether it be capital punishment or murder.