Tender Humanity

Rating: 10/10 (26 May 2006)

Harper Lee's novel is required reading for many school students, and with good reason. It is a terrific exploration of childhood, growing up, the individual and what the individual can achieve, the justice system and human values. Atticus Finch is surely one of the most heroic and true characters ever created, and Gregory Peck does a marvellous job portraying him in the film version of 'To Kill A Mockingbird'.
His interaction with the kids is the thing I enjoy most about this film-how both the adult and the child grow to understand each other through the course of the film's events. Atticus is a great father figure, in the fact that he isn't perfect, but strives to do the best he can, as a widower, by his children. When I was a child, I used to sit and watch this and pretend Gregory Peck was my real father instead of my own (we don't have a very close relationship), because of his sincerity and goodness of heart. Peck's understated qualities as an actor perfectly suited the role, it is one of the best male dramatic performances you'll see.
The child actors are excellent also- particularly young Mary Badham as Scout, the little girl whose eyes we see the action with. The use of black-and-white cinematography conveys the mood of Depression-era small-town America perfectly, and Mulligan's direction is almost flawless. The courtroom sequences are some of the best ever put to the screen; filled with high emotion as Peck, the town's most upstanding citizen, puts his reputation on the line to defend a black man accused of rape. Due to the town's (and America at large)racial prejudices, the trial is a foregone conclusion even though the black man is obviously innocent, but Atticus' true character and faith shine through.
This is an amazing film adaptation of a powerful novel.
10/10.