To Kill a Mockingbird

I remember Tom Criuse opening the Oscar night some years ago( i guess it was 2002) , and he tried to justify why we need movies in such turbulent times. There he mentioned "To Kill a Mockingbird" as after the movie he wanted to be an attorney.

This movie is rated the 25th all time best at AFI and and it's hero Atticus Fich (Gregory Peck as an white attorney defending a black guy accused of raping a white woman) is rated the #1 American Film Hero of all times by the same .

When i first read the book, i just loved it. "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee always will figure in my list of top ten books ever. It was with this notion and a little doubt in my mind, on whether anyone can really justify a book that is so minutely written, that i saw the movie.

Though as everyone would agree that comparing a movie with it's film adaptationis not exactly being just to the moviemaker as in all classical movie adaptation( Gone with the wind, The Godfather, Wuthering Heights to name a few) you sometimes feel something missing as compared to the book. I guess that is very much due to the lack of creative independence in case of a movie. But, having said that let me tell you this movie is one which sometimes matches the book narration.

The story is told through the eyes of two kids Scout and Jem,(especially "Scout", Mary Badham in her best known role) as they go about they go about they normal life(like school ,teachers and summer holidays) during difficult times. As their father represents a black(Tom Robinson) accused of raping a white woman ( though it was a not the case) in a white dominant neighbourhood at times where blacks were considered as secondary citizen.

The movie starts with a parallel story of a mysterious house and a mysterious character by the name of Boo Radley (Robert Duvall in his big screen debut) that captivates the minds of these young people. The rising temper of the city ( as atticus being a white defending a black , is referred to as "Nigger Lover") is very evident even for the innocent kids as they face trouble in school and all around.

There are a few memorable scenes like the time when Atticus tells Jem that there were so many bad things in the world and he cannot keep them all away from his kids. The helplessness and the anguish that the character(Gregory Peck) displays is amazing.

Atticus loses the case , and Tom Robinson is killed while trying to flee from the police, but he wins so much respect among the black community that is uncomparable . It is best summed up in the lines where the priest asks Scout to stand up in salutation " Your Father is Passing" and that particular scene where he walks away(lost in courtroom) amidst standing ovation from the black community.

Film ends When jem and Scout are attacked while coming back from school and mysterious Boo RAdley saving there lives.

One of the greatest films ever made and a must watch for all who like classics.