To kill a mockingbird [based on the book] by Harper Lee dir. by Robert Mulligan

In a small town in Alabama in the 1930’s Atticus Finch is working hard to raise his two children; his son Jem and his daughter Scout. He works as a lawyer and has recently been asked to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman. At first this case doesn’t have much impact on the lives of his children. They have a summer visitor next door to keep them selves occupied, Dill Harris comes visiting his aunt during the summer, and then of course there is the mystery of Boo Radley a few doors down. Supposedly he tried to murder his father and is now kept chained to the bed. A neighbourhood mystery that must be investigated.

To kill a mockingbird is a classic. Both the book and the film adaptation are classics, but I haven’t revisited either since I was at school. I’m surprised, because I remember enjoying both.

If it has been a while since you’ve watched this, of if you’ve never watched it, you really should hunt it out and give it a go. Yes, it is an older film. And yes it is a black and white film. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t still well worth a watch. Atticus Finch is a man everyone can respect.

Although it is a pity that the race relations aspect isn’t explored that little bit more. The black characters are only there to provide plot and background, they aren’t fully realised characters in their own right. Then again, this is Scout’s story. She is telling us her memories of those summers and the impact of that trial on her and her brother’s lives. And given the time and the place she wouldn’t have had much real interaction with them, apart from the housekeeper Calpurnia.

I’m really feeling like I should read the book now.