The movie “To Kill a Mocking Bird” was filmed from a 1960 Novel of the same name by Harper Lee. This movie is a semi-autobiographical presentation of a small city in Alabama, a widower attorney, and racial unrest setting. This movie presented a timely reflection of the extent of deep racial problems and social injustices existing in the southern part of the US in the early 60s.
The innocence and world of play of young people is clearly presented in the movie by the actions of the two young characters by the names of Scout and her elder brother Jem and the way they perceive their widower’s father Attorney Atticus (Harper 12).
The movie featured Gregory Peck acting under the name Atticus Finch acting as a lawyer in the racially divided town of Alabama in the 1930s.Finch chooses to act in defense of a young black man accused of raping a white woman. The story is given from the view of a six year old scout child stirring in the movie as Atticus child. The story is then narrated to the audience by an adult scout.
This presents a form of distinctiveness in the narrative part of the movie (Dirks 2). This is useful because it allows the first person narration forming the plot of the movie to contain adult language and insights at the same time upholding the innocent outlook of a child.
Incorporating an adult perspective in the is essential in adding a measure of hindsight to the movie and consequently leaving room for the audience to analyze events in the movie from a deeper angle. The setting of the movie in a black and white picture mode has also helped in distinguishing.
This is because most of us are used to colored movies and so a black and white movie shows an aspect of uniqueness and creativity on the part of the producer (Dirks 2).
The movie has also exhibited a high level in the successful connection of themes in its plot. For instance, the theme of racial discrimination and violence are well incorporated and connected where Scout and Jem are evicted from their father’s house after deciding to defend Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. The innocent children are later attacked on a dark night by a prejudiced adult.
This depicts a high sense of interconnectivity in the plot and the overall development of the movie since the author successfully links these events in order to present different themes in the movie (Harper 112).
Characters such as Atticus and Calpurnia are used by the author in presenting the aspect of sympathy towards those who might be less privileged in the society. To further present this theme in the movie, the author uses such scenes as the scene where scout welcomes a less privileged member of his class home for supper and belittles his table manners in order to be at the same par with his classmate.
She defends her move by standing to her stand that she is bound to treat all guests with respect regardless of their social status. Atticus’ view of people’s perceptions towards other people is presented in a sharp contrast to that of other characters such as Alexandria who refers to poor people as “trash”. This further depicts a high level of character development in this movie.
Prejudice and tolerance serves as one of the major themes in the movie. The author of this movie tries to examine the issue of racism and its consequences. This is presented in the major themes of prejudice verses tolerance. The author tries to elaborate on how people feel about and respond to differences about other people.
The author of the movie has also succeeded in developing the flow of the movie through the use of very strong willed characters such as Miss Maudie Atkinson. Miss Atkinson is presented in the movie as a strong and supportive character that always stands her ground against such as Jem and Scout.
To further highlight the strength of this female character, the author uses such concepts as “it is a sin to kill a mocking bird because all that they do is singing for the masses”. This statement is also useful in developing the plot of the movie.
The author of the movie has also used a commendable combination of characters. Majority of the characters in this movie demonstrate a high level of distinct traits. This is very useful in making the movie more enjoyable because such type of characters develops an aspect of closeness to the minds of the audiences.
The audience always feels inclined to the strong characters in the movie thus deriving more satisfaction from the movie. For instance, a mere look at Scout portrays the daring and outspoken traits in her (Dirks 3).
The theme of violence and its effects have also been critically presented in the movie. This theme is developed through such scenes as the scene where Scout gets into a brawl with a classmate as well as in the scene where Jem is attacked and his arm broken in the movie.
The author consequently uses the theme of violence to convey a message about the effects and threats of violent acts. This is well presented in the movie in the form of disturbing scenes and nighttime shadows.
Works Cited
Dirks, TIM. Film site Movie review “To kill a mocking Bird (1962). Retrieved from: https://www.filmsite.org/toki.html
Harper, Lee. To Kill a Mocking Bird. New York: PT Mizan Publika, 2008. Print.
Harpers, Lee. To kill a mocking bird: Plot overview. Web.