Movie Review

Dead Man Walking Film Review

From the movie ‘Dead Man Walking’, one recognizes how the film is bold and full of a wrenching experience for the audience who needs to learn the impact of the death penalty as a form of capital punishment. An important question on the morality of death penalty is appalling to anyone who sees the film. The main character who plays Sister Helen Prejean in the movie is convincing in terms of how she presents her conviction that capital punishment is wrong. It is interesting to see how a man is degraded in the face of the death penalty. For example, the main character Poncelet is subjected to inhumane conditions prior the day of execution. As implied in the film, the death penalty is done at night and under secrecy. Such acts create an impression of an immoral act that violates the values of society. The actor who plays the nun is astonished as to why the judicial system no longer believes in the fundamental principle that upholds the value of a human life. Similar to the old age justice system, the death penalty is likened to vengeance. In any case, the death penalty has a high moral cost and robs the society any moral authority. From the film, it is evident that alienation of the guilty and lack of compassion and care discredits any purpose of capital punishment. The manner in which offenders of the capital crime are treated is in sharp contrast to what Sister Helen cares for Poncelet in the film. Indeed, the film portrayal of love as the most powerful tool of valuing a man is effective. The film succeeds in show how the government kills the offenders with really understanding them as human beings. Also, the film lays a foundation for implementing reforms of the judicial system to the death penalty.