Du silence et des ombres

Ready, aim, fire. It’s that easy. Like killing a mockingbird. Harper Lee used the title of her celebrated autobiographical novel not only in this sense. It is also a crucial acknowledgement of the protagonist, Jean Louise Finch. Killing a bluejay and killing a mockingbird are not the same thing. The film adaptation of the riveting novel is not so riveting itself. The Southern atmosphere, inhospitable to blacks (and anyone who supports them), is represented mainly by one character, the truly diabolical Bob Ewell (= evil). Of course, the film doesn’t make it clear that “that” is present in the vast majority of people. Of all the themes contained in the book, the filmmakers give priority to the issue of racism, which explains why the instructive episodes with the morphine-addicted Mrs. Dubose were edited out and why there is a complete lack of other characters (Aunt Alexandra) who influence the children’s way of thinking. The long court scene and the subsequent quick ending (the book’s plot covering three years is condensed into roughly one year) create the impression that the film should have been a courtroom drama. Would some added minutes have helped? No, two hours are enough, but in my opinion, what’s essential is not dealt with in that amount of time. The film lacks the dark magic of the adult world that as children we longed to discover, vaguely intuiting what dangers that involves. The title of the feature-length documentary about the film, Fearful Symmetry, captures it exactly. Another film, with a weaker story, stands out in every aspect with its “fearful symmetry”, namely The Night of the Hunter. Appendix: Martin Arnold’s entertaining experiment Passage á l'acte encourages an alternative view on To Kill a Mockingbird and other, similar mainstream films. 75% (19/12/2011)

A wonderful, perhaps a little slower-developing film with the wonderful Gregory Peck. Together with Inherit the Wind and Judgment at Nuremberg, this film forms my personal, imaginary top of the list of courtroom stories that never get boring, although entertainment is the last thing on my mind when watching them. (17/01/2008)

I was expecting a classic courtroom drama based on ideas about racism, but what I got was a very original and beautifully retold story from rural America, which through the recollections of a little girl reflects an unpleasant time not only in a depressing but also in a pleasantly exaggerated and purely childlike way. The performances are of course dominated by Peck, but it's also certainly nice to see a young Robert Duvall before he went into the service of the mafia:-) My only criticism would be the slightly odd ending, which didn't avoid patheticism and went too far off the rails in my opinion. Or, on the contrary, immersed itself in it with gusto. :) 85% (24/09/2013)

I enjoyed the notorious Southern hospitality combined with the notorious Southern racism. I also enjoyed Gregory Peck's performance, and to my huge surprise, I didn't even mind the child actors, but... The film felt really archaic; the main character didn't have a scratch on his shiny armor, and I'm not a fan of such virtuous characters. The slow introduction dragged on like a partially frozen snail dowsed in honey, and it seemed much longer than the actual main storyline, while the events in the courtroom felt somewhat rushed. However, Atticus' speech about equality before American justice was hilarious and brought me cynical joy. Despite the criticism, I still think it's a good film because there are lessons to take from it, and I appreciate its poetic elements. My main problem was that my expectations were much higher, and they were not met. (18/04/2023)

A very powerful film that is definitely worth seeing. Court dramas are generally capable of being strong, but here it is also about drama outside the courtroom, about children's drama, about drama about people. This is a film that will get under your skin and show you that justice really has a very diverse form. And sometimes it is simply unfair. (19/04/2015)