(the film will also be on reserve at the Geddes Language Lab from Friday, 2-24 to Friday, 3-3)
Tim Robbins’ screen adaptation of the book Dead Man Walking maintains a dual focus on death-row inmate Matthew Poncelet and his dedicated spiritual advisor, Sister Helen Prejean. Matthew begins the film unrepentent; he refuses to acknowledge and take responsibility for his crime. The film works as a tale of sin and redemption precisely because the viewer has no doubt about Matthew’s depravity. In her opening address at the Call to Action National Conference in 2000, Sister Helen discussed Hollywood’s reluctance to take on the project, explaining, “Hollywood didn’t think people would pay to see a movie about a nun and a death row inmate who’s guilty as sin! And Tim Robbins and I agreed: the moral question here is not what to do with innocent people. We know we shouldn’t execute innocent people. But what about when they are guilty? And when we don’t even like them? Like the death row inmate in Dead Man Walking. You don’t like this guy. And he’s not remorseful.”
Sister Helen takes it upon herself to bring Matthew to true contrition so that he can engage the sacrament of penance and be reconciled with God (justified) before he dies. Throughout Matthew's journey, she attempts to serve as Christ's representative, saying explicitly at his execution, "I will be the face of Christ for you."
When you watch the film, don't just think about whether Matthew deserves forgiveness. Think about the Christian understanding of grace and redemption that motivates Sister Helen throughout the film. At the end, Robbins films Matthew's execution as a sort of crucifixion, making a direct connection between the problem of human sinfulness and Jesus as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." Are there no limits to the redemptive power of Jesus?