An Effortlessly Poignant Social Commentary!

Rating: 9/10 (30 March 2015)

To Kill A Mockingbird is a hauntingly nostalgic portrayal of childhood mischief set in a racially divided Alabama town in the 1930s. If the film's tone seems overly righteous, it's offset by a poetic lyricism that is difficult to resist embracing.
At the outset, it plops us down serenely in the comfort of a grubby Southern town at the time of the Great Depression, before 'desegregation' was even a word. Gregory Peck plays incorruptible lawyer Atticus Finch, a widower with two loving, if rambunctious children - 10-year-old Jem (Phillip Alford) and a thoroughly beguiling 6-year-old tomboy Scout (Mary Badham). We are immediately squeezed inside the skin of Scout and Jem as they go racing and tumbling around the neighborhood, shrieking with childish defiance at crusty old Mrs. Dubose, skirting with awe around the creaky wooden house where the mysterious Boo Radley (Robert Duvall) lives, who according to neighborhood legend, is crazy and chained to his bed by his father. While the kids play, Atticus has been chosen to defend a young black man accused of rape. As the trial looms and the townsfolk attempt to enact street justice against the accused, Atticus' pursuit of justice remains unwavering. As the trial ensues, Atticus, Jem, and especially Scout learn as much about each other as they do about their own fears and prejudices.
Its success is in part due to its source material - Harper Lee's best-selling novel tells a fierce story. However, Lee's child's-eye view of southern bigotry gains something in its translation to the screen by Robert Mulligan, who knows exactly how to capture a child's subjective experience. Mulligan achieves a bewitching indication of the excitement and thrill of being a child. There is so much feeling for children in the film, so much delightful observation of their spirit, energy and charm as depicted by two superb discoveries, Badham and Alford. Mulligan even wrings a remarkable performance from Gregory Peck. As Atticus, his performance is the bedrock of this classic film, one of those rare instances when a character perfectly captures the essence of its source material without compromising it in any way. It's a simple, controlled performance of passion and restraint which turns out to be curiously effective.
To Kill A Mockingbird is effortlessly engaging as a social commentary, while the sobering subtext gives the film a heart and soul that most filmmakers would kill to replicate. This is storytelling at its very best!