High drama.

Rating: Null/10 (14 April 2012)

I saw this in a drama class, and learned a great deal about story structure and theme, as well as performance presentation. But, beyond all the technical tidbits we were supposed to pick up, it was a compelling story about another time and another place.
I was raised in a very egalitarian household and environment. I would hear high ranking bureaucrats comment on societies ills, and what social problems were ailing what populations. Things like blight, social strife, racism, inequality among the sexes, were all ailments of society. "To Kill a Mockingbird" shows us some of those facets in the deep south circa late 40s, early 50s. We see populations not so much at odds with one another, but desiring to keep a certain degree of conformity. And amidst this is a paragon of principle, Atticus Finch. A lawyer from the old school of taking a public trust to defend those in need, like a social knight, a paladin with the soul of mankind as his coat of arms emblazoned on his shield.
But no sword or shield can protect all from the anger that boils under those who have nothing but one thing in common with "their betters" (to borrow from the language of the time; e.g. their skin color. And so an old twisted and perverted social code mislabeled and sham-ably so as "southern chivalry", is code for disliking another human being for superficial traits.
Atticus bears the soul of the town, and acts as a stop gap to mayhem when he can, trying to shine light on the mid 1900s US equivalent of the European Dark Ages; ignorance and fear residing in all but the most stalwart of hearts.
We have Atticuk's children; Scout and Jem, representing the newer and younger generation who are the offspring of this paladin. They are the innocents who see the injustices and see their father do battle with those whose social morays are skewed to privilege. To them it's an adventure. To their father, it is a struggle; a battle against a kind of scaly serpent that knows only survival.
To the maid and townsfolk, it is a battle royale, referencing the imagery I just stated. What will rule? The unspoken law, one that no one dares codify in any book, or the principle that which the written law was designed and engineered to uphold, like a charger bearing a man at arms. They are divided. The meek understand the power of the strong, and rely on the social contract founded by the framers of the nation some two-hundred years before.
It is a simpler time for simpler ideas. Called "the old South" people are mostly civil to one another. Race is not a factor until conflict rears its head, then lines are drawn, and factions are segmented.
But not everyone is so sided in such a schism. There are simple folk who care for others. There are opportunists who seek to operate within the rules of law, but seek their own goal, as per William Windom (known to me as Commodore Decker from the Doomsday Machine episode from Star Trek). We have the man suffering from addiction who holds the biggest secret of them all. And the innocent on both sides of the social divide who are recruited by their own weakness to resist being dragged into a fight that's not theirs.
We have a mixture of simple and meager with the wise and relatively affluent. We see the social mingle of various people, and how that is challenged by base instinct. That's what this film is all about.
It's high drama. Can we as a species not embrace our warmth for other living creatures and men, or does our inner reptile gnaw at our desires so much to the point of overcoming higher reasoning? And how will the next generation be impressed b this? And for all those high minded notions, how can a simple minded human show us what we truly value?
Okay, all of that is pretty heady stuff, but those are the themes that energize and thusly force the story to glow. We're seeing a slice of life of the old south; good and bad. It's a microcosm of America; good and bad; ugly and beautiful all at once. It's a part of America that we don't see a great deal of because there's a kind of shameful beauty there. It's one that's actually universal, but has a unique American flavor to it.
Finally, the film is mostly of all simply about memories.
Technical notes; the camera work is classic here. The opening sequence is something right out of a 70s or 80s sequence. A confluence of shots that was ahead of its time. The dolly and crane shots are also basic, as are most of the setups. And the sound does not dominate the image. Everything is as like a well balanced Japanese rice paper painting. A kind of basic structure with great composition.
A good film.
Enjoy.