Back in high school, I remember the year our teacher required us to read To Kill a Mockingbird. I heard about this a book a few years earlier when my older brother had to read it, and thought, why is this book so important that kids all over the United States are forced to read it? I found the book to be a whimsical but unsettling story of childhood innocence lost, and an illustration of racism still deeply rooted in the South during the Depression. Considering the impact the book had, it was inevitable that it would eventually be adapted it into a movie. It was in 1962, during the tail end of the golden age of Hollywood that director Robert Mullligan and screenwriter Horton Foote brought this movie to life. Their adaptation gave an artful
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This made me look back to the book to see how much was the genius writing of Harper Lee, and how much should be attributed to screenwriter Horton Foote. Either way, the movie is a visual masterpiece. I found the fact that it was shot in black and white to add to the stark feel of the movie. With the current trend of CGI and overly zealous action movies, it is refreshing to go back and watch a classic movie such as this. To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the only movies that had me on the edge of my seat, that wasn’t an action movie. I found myself caring deeply about the fates of the characters. I was especially intrigued by the scenes that occurred in the court room. Even though I have watched this movie multiple times, and know what is going to happen, I can’t turn away during certain critical scenes. I stop everything else I am doing just to witness again a captivating sequence of events. The acting, especially from Brock Peters, who plays the accused black man Tom Robinson in the movie, was mesmerizing. I did not find the scenes with the children to be the same way. After watching this movie several times, I have grown bored with the children. I’m not saying their acting was bad, just not up to the same standards of the adult
This made me look back to the book to see how much was the genius writing of Harper Lee, and how much should be attributed to screenwriter Horton Foote. Either way, the movie is a visual masterpiece. I found the fact that it was shot in black and white to add to the stark feel of the movie. With the current trend of CGI and overly zealous action movies, it is refreshing to go back and watch a classic movie such as this. To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the only movies that had me on the edge of my seat, that wasn’t an action movie. I found myself caring deeply about the fates of the characters. I was especially intrigued by the scenes that occurred in the court room. Even though I have watched this movie multiple times, and know what is going to happen, I can’t turn away during certain critical scenes. I stop everything else I am doing just to witness again a captivating sequence of events. The acting, especially from Brock Peters, who plays the accused black man Tom Robinson in the movie, was mesmerizing. I did not find the scenes with the children to be the same way. After watching this movie several times, I have grown bored with the children. I’m not saying their acting was bad, just not up to the same standards of the adult