Atticus Finch will be there all night, and he would still be there when Jem waked up in the morning. To kill a Mockingbird is a masterpiece.

Rating: 9/10 (14 December 2014)

I remember reading the source material for the movie, the Putizer Reward book of the same name by Harper Ferry when in middle school. The film removes a few sub-plots, but still, very faithful to the book. It's still long with a few boring moments, but whenever, the character of Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) got on screen, it was a joy to watch. This is Peck's best role. A lot of people might remember, this film for the court-room drama, as Atticus Finch find himself defending a black man, Tom Robinson (Brock Peters) accused of rape, but the movie directed by Robert Mulligan and written by Horton Foote; is also a coming to age story, teaching tolerance and decry prejudice. Without spoiling too much, the story covers three years of the 1930s, showing Jean Louise "Scout" Finch (Mary Badham) and her brother Jem (Phillip Alford), undergo big changes in their young lives. I like how Atticus Finch help them on the way, being a good father figure. As a Southern Gothic and a Bildungsroman, the primary themes of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' involve racial injustice and the destruction of innocence. You also see the movie dig deep into the issues of class, just/unjust laws, and Southern morals. A lot of woman believe it, touch on women's rights. I can see it. The patriarchal South does have a history that kinda made white men the dominant group, and women and blacks deemed in more subordinate roles. A lot of LGBT supporters believe that the book is gay or lesbian "coming-of-age" tale. Indeed, the movie dealt with gender roles in the American Deep South. Scout does acts more like a tom boy and show more a masculine side that feminine. She does not respond positively to anything girly, but it's really hard to prove that she is a closed lesbian or not due to the age. Scout hasn't reach adolescence yet. If Scout was based on Harper Lee's childhood, we still wouldn't know because Lee was an extremely private person and there is little information on her even in major biography databases. It's hard to prove, if Harper Lee is gay or not. Others people have look at this theory, by using Dill as an example, because Dill was supposed based on Harper Lee's childhood friend, the openly gay Truman Capote. While, there is no clear evidence supporting this, other than the fact that Capote was a childhood friend of Harper Lee. I really don't really know. After all, Lee, in turn, is the model for the Idabel character in Capote's first novel, 'Other Voices, Other Rooms,' which seem more like a heterosexual heroine. While, Dill and Scout seem to have a somewhat romantic relationship during childhood, who knows where their sexuality lies. A lot could change if a sequel to the book was ever written, which Harper Lee most likely, will not do. She hasn't wrote a book in years. This issue also brings the rumors of authorship. Some people believe it was written by Truman Capote; while others believe Harper Lee wrote Capote's best novel, In Cold Blood. Who knows? One thing for sure, is the plot is based on the unsuccessful legal defense by Harper Lee's attorney father, during the 1931 landmark Scottsboro Boys interracial rape case. The movie has a lot of heart & humor, despite dealing with dark themes. The film is widely considered to be one of the greatest films ever made. The film won three Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Peck. In 1995, To Kill a Mockingbird was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'. Still, some people might hate this film. After all, it has a scene where Atticus shoots a mad dog. Some people see that scene, as he basically is a hypocrite, because he just killed a mockingbird; because Tim Johnson wasn't doing anything it was literally standing there. It wasn't charging at him or the kids. I can see where they are coming from, but the dog was suffering. I know PETA wouldn't like that, but it had a lot of symbolism with the dog scene. Perhaps, it's just one of examples of Atticus doing tough things he doesn't want to do. Is rabies supposed to represented racism? Atticus does refer to racism as "Maycomb's usual disease." In addition, while Atticus does not protect the children against racism, he does shoot down racism. Is the dog shooting, an allegory? Is it saying black people are dogs? Is the film saying it's alright to kill black people if they're suffering? Who knows? Maybe, I'm oversimplification it. Perhaps it's just the feeling Scout has. The sick horror at what's happening in front of her and how over complex, violent can be. Was this scene, needed? Maybe- not. Despite its good themes, To Kill a Mockingbird has been subject to campaigns for removal from public classrooms, often challenged for its use of racial epithets. The film does stereotyped blacks as superstitious, poor, and poorly education blacks who to some critics believe were "contented slaves". Some criticized the movie for focusing less on the blacks, and more on the story how honest, white man save them for racism. Surprising, there is some truth to that in the film, but the white savior narrative in film since this movie had indeed, went a little overboard. I didn't mind it, too much in this film. In recent years this idealization of Atticus Finch has been challenged. He is accused of having an élitist and paternalistic attitude towards his client and women, while some have asked how this "father-knows-best" could have so casually overlooked the Depression South's appalling record of racism, sexism and class exploitation. Still, there is no greater good guy than Atticus Finch in my opinion. Atticus Finch served as a moral hero for many readers and as a model of integrity for lawyers. Overall: It's a must watch.