A Time To Kill Film Analysis

“A Time to Kill” directed by Joel Schumacher is a legal drama set in rural Mississippi involving the racial tensions within the region during the segregation period released in 1996. This case in the film involves multiple important aspects: race, family ties, injustice. However, these are not what this This is simply a story of two victims: one stripped forcefully through the violent stripping of innocence, the other stripped of the fundamental human right of justice, driven to provide justice for his flesh and blood daughter. The second victim is forced to commit crime, driven to vindicate his family and prevent potential crimes in the future. This film tells the story of the humanization of society, proving that a person, who is a victim
The director creates his profluence within the film in two particular ways: by changing music and changing camera framing. Within most films, the majority of the soundtrack is ambient and inherent to the film. Music plays in the background, serving as an indicator of the desired mood of the scenes. Particularly, Schumacher uses different music varying in intensity to display the change in plot points that are more important for the shifts in the film. For example, in the scene where the KKK burns a cross on the front lawn, we first see Brigance sitting in his house and there is not a lot of music noticeable to the viewer. It is a serene scene, in which the viewer sees an intimate part of life the day-to-day happenings within someone’s home. However, this is not an important part of the overall storyline, but merely a piece of the background knowledge that the viewer needs in order to successfully understand the nuances of Brigance’s argument later in the film. However, when the plot quickens and the KKK interrupts the evening, the viewer’s sense of tranquility. Likewise, there is a change in music that allows the director to transition more smoothly from scene to scene and indicate the importance of the plot
First, the introduction of characters and the character development is impeccable in this film. The director introduces the more static characters almost instantaneously, allowing the introduction of the more dynamic characters to take their place on center stage. By formatting the introductions in this fashion, I believe the director allows more emphasis to be placed upon the development of the main characters. Some films blur the lines between the introductions of characters creating a conglomerated mess that prevents the development of the characters from being easily understood by the audience. Additionally, the way that the characters change throughout the story really emphasizes the humanism and equality undertones of the film. Secondly, although there are points during which the transitions are spotty, the overall aesthetic of the film transitions is very good. They seamlessly transition, making the film quite enjoyable to watch and striking. Overall, “ A Time to Kill” is an excellent cinematic in regards to the plot of the film. However, if it were to be remade, I would streamline some of the side stories. While the side stories add to the plot of the film, they sometimes detract from the main points. When I went through the plot, I realized how little