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DEAD MAN WALKING

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the 2005 film, see Dead Men Walking (film).

Not to be confused with another 1995 movie Dead Man.

Dead Man Walking
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTim Robbins
Screenplay byTim Robbins
Based onDead Man Walking
1993 book
by Helen Prejean
Produced byJon Kilik
Tim Robbins
Rudd Simmons
StarringSusan SarandonSean PennRobert ProskyRaymond J. BarryR. Lee ErmeyScott Wilson
CinematographyRoger A. Deakins
Edited byLisa Zeno Churgin
Music byDavid Robbins
Production
companies		Working Title Films
Havoc[1]
Distributed byGramercy Pictures (United States)
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (International)
Release datesDecember 29, 1995 (United States)April 12, 1996 (United Kingdom)
Running time122 minutes
CountriesUnited Kingdom
United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$11 million
Box office$83 million

Dead Man Walking is a 1995 American crime drama film starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn, and co-produced and directed by Tim Robbins, who adapted the screenplay from the 1993 non-fiction book of the same name. It marked Peter Sarsgaard’s film debut.

In the film, Sister Helen Prejean (Sarandon) establishes a special relationship with Matthew Poncelet (Penn), a character based on convicted murderers Elmo Patrick Sonnier and Robert Lee Willie. He is a prisoner on death row in Louisiana, and she visits him as his spiritual adviser after corresponding with him.

The film was a critical and commercial success; it grossed $83 million on a budget of $11 million and received praise for the performances of Penn and Sarandon, as well as Robbins’s direction. Sarandon’s performance won her the Academy Award for Best Actress, while Robbins and Penn were nominated for Best Director and Best Actor respectively. Bruce Springsteen was nominated for Best Original Song for the single “Dead Man Walkin'”.

Plot

Matthew Poncelet, who was sentenced to death for the murder and rape of a teenage couple, Walter Delacroix and Hope Percy, has been on death row at the Louisiana State Penitentiary for six years. His accomplice, Carl Vitello, was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. As his scheduled execution date approaches, Poncelet asks Sister Helen Prejean, with whom he has corresponded, to help him with a final appeal.

Sister Helen decides to visit Poncelet, who is arrogant, sexist and racist, and does not even pretend to feel remorse. He protests his innocence and insists Vitello killed the two teenagers. Convincing an experienced attorney Hilton Barber to take on Poncelet’s case pro bono, Sister Helen tries to have his sentence commuted to life imprisonment. After many visits, she establishes a relationship with him. At the same time, she gets to know Poncelet’s mother, Lucille, and his three brothers, Craig, Sonny, and Troy. She later meets the victims’ parents, Earl Delacroix and Mary Beth and Clyde Percy. The victims’ parents do not understand Sister Helen’s efforts to help Poncelet, believing that she is “taking his side”. They desire “absolute justice” (i.e., his life for those of their children).

Sister Helen’s application for commutation is rejected. Poncelet asks Sister Helen to be his spiritual adviser through his execution, and she agrees. Sister Helen tells Poncelet that his redemption is possible only if he takes responsibility for what he did. Just before he is taken to be executed, Poncelet tearfully admits to Sister Helen that he had killed Walter Delacroix and raped Hope Percy, before Vitello killed her. As he is prepared for execution, he appeals to Walter Delacroix’s father for forgiveness, and tells Hope Percy’s parents that he hopes his death brings them peace.

Poncelet is executed by lethal injection, and has flashbacks of his crime as he dies. He is later given a proper burial. Walter Delacroix’s father attends the funeral ceremony; although he is still filled with hate, he soon begins to pray with Sister Helen.

Cast

Soundtrack

Main article: Dead Man Walking (soundtrack)

Creation and conception

Christopher Buchanan, an associate producer of a PBS documentary, stated that, “The movie, based on the book by Sister Helen Prejean, combined the stories of the first two men she counseled on Louisiana’s death row: Elmo Patrick Sonnier and Robert Lee Willie. In rather broad strokes, it is fair to say the film captures Sonnier’s crime and Willie’s character. “[2]

Reception

Box office

Dead Man Walking debuted on December 29, 1995, in the United States. With a budget of $11 million, the film grossed $39,387,284 domestically and $43,701,011 internationally, for a total of $83,088,295 worldwide.[3]

Critical response

Dead Man Walking was well received by critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 95% positive rating based on reviews from 60 critics, with an average rating of 8.24/10. The site’s consensus states: “A powerful, thought-provoking film that covers different angles of its topic without resorting to preaching, Dead Man Walking will cause the viewer to reflect regardless of their political viewpoint.”[4] Metacritic gives it a rating of 80/100 based on reviews from 26 critics, indicating “generally favorable” reviews.[5]

Hal Hinson of The Washington Post commented: “What this intelligent, balanced, devastating movie puts before us is nothing less than a contest between good and evil.”[6] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described the acting: “For this kind of straight-ahead movie to work, the acting must be strong without even a breath of theatricality, and in Penn and Sarandon, Dead Man Walking has performers capable of making that happen.”[7] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars, his highest rating, and called it “absorbing, surprising, technically superb and worth talking about for a long time afterward.”[8]

Accolades

AwardCategoryNominee(s)ResultRef.
Academy AwardsBest DirectorTim RobbinsNominated[9]
Best ActorSean PennNominated
Best ActressSusan SarandonWon
Best Original Song“Dead Man Walkin'”
Music and Lyrics by Bruce Springsteen		Nominated
Australian Film Institute AwardsBest Foreign FilmJon Kilik, Tim Robbins, and Rudd SimmonsNominated[10]
Berlin International Film FestivalGolden BearTim RobbinsNominated[11]
Prize of the Ecumenical JuryWon
Prize of the Guild of German Art House CinemasWon
Reader Jury of the “Berliner Morgenpost”Won
Best ActorSean PennWon
Blockbuster Entertainment AwardsFavorite Actress – DramaSusan SarandonNominated
Chicago Film Critics Association AwardsBest ActorSean PennNominated[12]
Chlotrudis AwardsBest MovieWon[13]
Best ActorSean PennWon
Best ActressSusan SarandonWon
David di Donatello AwardsBest Foreign ActressWon[14]
Golden Globe AwardsBest Actor in a Motion Picture – DramaSean PennNominated[15]
Best Actress in a Motion Picture – DramaSusan SarandonNominated
Best Screenplay – Motion PictureTim RobbinsNominated
Heartland International Film FestivalStudio Crystal Heart AwardWon
Humanitas Prize AwardsFeature FilmTim RobbinsWon[16]
Independent Spirit AwardsBest Male LeadSean PennNominated[17]
Best Supporting FemaleCelia WestonNominated
Kansas City Film Critics Circle AwardsBest ActressSusan SarandonWon[18]
Movieguide AwardsMost Inspiring MoviesWon[19]
MTV Movie AwardsBest Female PerformanceSusan SarandonNominated
National Society of Film Critics AwardsBest ActorSean PennRunner-up[20]
Nikkan Sports Film AwardsBest Foreign FilmWon[21]
Online Film & Television Association AwardsFilm Hall of Fame: ProductionsInducted[22]
Palm Springs International Film FestivalBest DirectorTim RobbinsWon
Political Film Society AwardsExposéWon
Human RightsNominated
Sant Jordi AwardsBest Foreign ActorSean PennNominated
Best Foreign ActressSusan SarandonNominated
Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading RoleSean PennNominated[23]
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading RoleSusan SarandonWon
Turkish Film Critics Association AwardsBest Foreign Film18th Place
USC Scripter AwardsUSC Scripter AwardTim Robbins (screenwriter);
Helen Prejean (author)		Nominated
  • Tim Robbins dedicated the movie to his paternal grandfather, Lee Robbins, and maternal grandmother, Thelma Bledsoe, in gratitude for his college tuition.[24]
  • The real-life Helen Prejean can be seen briefly in the candlelight vigil scene outside the prison protesting the death penalty with the rest of the cast.

Other versions

In 2002, Tim Robbins, who adapted the book for the film, also wrote a stage version of Dead Man Walking. The book has also been adapted as an opera by the same name, premiering in San Francisco.

Legacy

Yvonne Koslovsky-Golan, author of The Death Penalty in American Cinema: Criminality and Retribution in Hollywood Film, stated that even though public debate on the death penalty increased for a period after the release of Dead Man Walking, the film did not result in “real political or legal change” but encouraged additional academic study on the death penalty.[25]

References

  1.  “Dead Man Walking (1995)”. AFI Catalog of Feature Films.
  2.  Buchanan, Christopher. “LOUISIANA: A MURDER, A MOVIE AND A WINK”. PBS. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  3.  “Dead Man Walking (1995)”. The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  4.  “Dead Man Walking (1995)”. Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  5.  “Dead Man Walking Reviews”. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  6.  Hinson, Hal (January 12, 1996). “A Tale of Giving the Devil His Due”. The Washington Post. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  7.  Turan, Kenneth (December 29, 1995). “Movie Review: Dead Man Walking – Prayers for the Victim, Victimizer ‘Dead Man Walking,’ Tim Robbins’ adaptation of Sister Helen”. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 17, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  8.  Ebert, Roger (January 12, 1996). “Dead Man Walking”. Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on September 28, 2012. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  9.  “The 68th Academy Awards (1996) Nominees and Winners”. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. October 5, 2014. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  10.  “AACTA Awards: Winners & Nominees – 1996”. Australian Film Institute Awards. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  11.  “Prizes & Honours 1996”. Berlinale. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin. Archived from the original on August 30, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  12.  “1988-2013 Award Winner Archives”. Chicago Film Critics Association. January 1, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  13.  “2nd Annual Chlotrudis Awards”. Chlotrudis Society for Independent Films. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  14.  “Dead Man Walking”. David di Donatello. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  15.  “Dead Man Walking”. Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  16.  “Past Winners & Nominees”. Humanitas Prize. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  17.  “39 Years of Nominees and Winners” (PDF). Independent Spirit Awards. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  18.  “KCFCC Award Winners – 1990-99”. Kansas City Film Critics Circle. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  19.  “1996 Movieguide Awards Winners”. Movieguide Awards. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  20.  “Past Awards”. National Society of Film Critics. December 19, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  21.  “Past Winners”. Nikkan Sports Film Awards. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  22.  “Film Hall of Fame: Productions”. Online Film & Television Association. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  23.  “The 2nd Screen Actors Guild Awards”. Screen Actors Guild Awards. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  24.  “Roger Ebert’s Movie Answer Man (03/17/1996)“. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  25.  Koslovsky-Golan, Yvonne. The Death Penalty in American Cinema: Criminality and Retribution in Hollywood Film. I.B.Tauris, April 4, 2014. ISBN 0857734520, 9780857734525. p. 117.

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