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Film: "Dead man walking" (1995).
Tim Robbins's moving but unsentimental film is based on Sister Helen Prejean's book about her work with a death-row prisoner in the lead-up to his execution. Susan Sarandon is superb as the Catholic nun, her large, dark eyes radiating both religious faith and a naivety that leaves her totally unprepared for the violent reactions she will stir up by treating the inmate as a human being. Sean Penn is equally convincing as the prisoner, Matthew Poncelet, a smooth operator who denies charges of murder and rape and carelessly airs his racial prejudices in disastrous television interviews. Though there is a slim chance that he will win an appeal against his sentence, the main narrative tension lies in Sister Prejean's attempts to make him face up to his crimes so he can die with dignity so save his soul. This spiritual thread in the film contrasts with the prison's matter-of-fact preparations for a "humane" lethal-injection killing that will leave everybody involved feeling that they have simply "done their job". Sensitive and well-balanced, the film never succumbs to over-simplification of the difficult issues involved. We fall in with the prayer vigil group (including the real-life Sister Prejean) campaigning against the death penalty outside the prison, but we also meet the traumatised families of Poncelet's victims. As he meets his chilling destiny, flashbacks force us to confront the true horror of the crime for which he has been convicted.
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