Preview

To Kill A Mockingbird Movie Analysis

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1597 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
To Kill A Mockingbird Movie Analysis
Based on Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning book of 1961, "To Kill a Mockingbird" was directed by Robert Mulligan in 1962, and stars Oscar Winner Gregory Peck, Brock Peters, and Mary Badham.
The movie is told from the perspective of Jean-Louise Finch (Mary Badham), nicknamed Scout, a feisty tomboy that pulls us through a year and a half of racial injustice and life long lessons. Scout, with her older brother Jem (Philip Alford), live with their widowed father Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck), a respected and prominent defense lawyer, in a small town in Alabama called Maycomb. The movie, set in 1932, is right in the early years of the Great Depression, but because of Atticus's job, the Finch's are much better off then some of their Maycomb neighbors.
…show more content…
The acting, the setting, the dialog, and everything else is exceptionally well done. During a time where special effects and expensive vast sets were not available, this movie stands tall purely on the script and the acting. The script is incredible, and it is no coincidence, considering that the novel is widely regarded as the best ever. As far as believable, it is far and ahead any crime movie I have ever seen. Many movies based on court room drama, end with the protagonist pulling a rabbit out of a hat and saving the day, but Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" deals with a realistic issue in a realistic way. Had Atticus pulled a magic card out and saved Tom Robinson the movie as a whole would have suffered greatly.
For all the reasons described above, "To Kill a Mockingbird" goes above and beyond what I expected when I first turned it on. Directly after finishing the movie, my first thought was this was easily one of the best movies I have ever scene. From top to bottom, from the acting, to the directing, to the wonderful novel the movie was inspired by, there is only strength and no weakness from this movie. It has been fifty-four years since the movie has originally debuted and it still lives on as a classic, something I expect it to do for many more years to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Books and movies of books all have many similarities and differences. To Kill a Mockingbird is no different when it comes to the book and the movie. In this essay I will be explaining the similarities and differences between the two.…

    • 527 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The story “To Kill a Mockingbird” was written by Harper Lee. Its setting was in Maycomb County, Alabama during the Great Depression in the 1930’s. The story was narrated through the eyes of a child, Jean Louise Finch, who was nicknamed Scout throughout the book. The dominant themes in this story were justice, courage and racism.…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To Kill a Mockingbird is a great book and a must read for all children. It had symbolism throughout the story that helped the readers know and understand the characters. Also, Scout and Jem Finch grow throughout the novel and they begin to realize what a cruel and unjust place the world really is. To Kill a Mockingbird shows the innocence of children and the troubles they are faced with in their daily…

    • 425 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Atticus Finch Classic

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages

    To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic, as it has been a since it first came out in 1960. Almost instantly, the novel won a Pulitzer prize and was adapted into a movie. Part of the book’s success is in its strong main characters, like Scout’s father, Atticus Finch. Atticus is revealed as an insightful, determined, and independent individual throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee through his and other character’s speech.…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    To kill a mockingbird was set in the year 1936 written by the influential Harper Lee. The book is written from the perspective of a nine year old girl named Scout who lives with her father and brother Jem. Depicting her town with no perception of discrimination basically colour-blind concerning peoples race, the book highlights the morals of Scouts father Atticus, a lawyer who defends a “Negro” male in the disgust of his town. This action demonstrates his outlook and beliefs on his current society acting in a way that forms his true personality to the audience.…

    • 984 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." (Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird). This quote defines one of the most important messages in the book, concerning power and prejudice. I think that this quote could be used to describe many situations throughout the book. In my essay I will show examples of the key events throughout the book that have been omitted or altered from the movie “To Kill a Mockingbird” and how they contribute to the degradation of the critical messages in the book.…

    • 1437 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Having a very young and innocent narrator vaguely disrupts the novel having such a deep and mature context. Having Scout, a child, retell serious events through her naïve mind, gives a very censored outlook. Scouts perspective on significant events gives readers a very truthful honest opinion on ways Scout grasps and understands the, very grown up, situations in which she witnesses.…

    • 665 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a wonderful classic that will forever stick out in the my mind. The novel teaches a great lesson in equal rights that can be applied throughout time in various situations. The main character Atticus is also extremely wise and gives out advice that anyone can apply to their lives. The novel also had characters that I absolutely fell in love with. Boo Radley was one of my favorite characters in the novel, his character was surrounded with mystery until the end. His character was very similar to how I imagined him to be and the reader soon sympathized with him. Boo wasn’t the only character I favored. I also found Dill’s character quite loveable, his story is quite interesting and can be sad at times. I loved his…

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jodi Picoult said, “Kids think with their brains cracked wide open; becoming an adult, I've decided, is only a slow sewing shut.” In the town of Maycomb, Alabama, in the middle of the Great Depression, six-year-old Scout Finch lives with her older brother Jem, and her father Atticus who is a lawyer. One year a boy named Dill spends the summer with his aunt. The three children become friends and soon become obsessed with a nearby house. The next year, Atticus is appointed by the court to defend a black man, Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, the daughter of a poor, notoriously vicious white man named Bob Ewell. Atticus presents a powerful defense of Tom and makes it clear that Ewell is lying. Jem is convinced Atticus will win the case, but the all-white jury still convicts Tom. Jem…

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The story is set at a time when the narrator, Scout Finch, was growing up under extraordinary situations. The story starts with the narration of Jem's broken hand that is the event that happened towards the end of the story. Their father Atticus, who is an attorney, defends a black client in court on allegations of raping a white lady which exposes the family to racial mockery by the neighbours setting them on a defensive mode. The events led to an altercation that ends with the death of Bob Ewell, a village drunkard and father to the accuser…

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, the main theme is that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. This metaphor of not killing mockingbird is clearly portrayed throughout the course of this novel. This theme is so important to the plot of this novel that the author decided to entitle the book after this very metaphor. Mockingbirds are birds that do not do anything wrong and they just give us music. Atticus is the main character in the novel that really stressed why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Mockingbirds are just a simple metaphor for the characters in this book who are killed, such as Mr. Raymond and Tom Robinson.…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic novel that is loved by many. However, as much as it is loved, it is also very disliked by many. Because of its racial slurs and its profound language many people have challenged the book.…

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This story has all the qualities of a great fiction novel. That is why the novel is so famous fifty four years later. When I read this story, I got lost in the intricate plot, and remained entertained through Jem, Dill, and Scout’s adventures, all the way to the heart wrenching ending. Like many books, this novel contains a unique cast of admirable characters who demonstrate a variety of likable qualities. Atticus Finch, one of the main characters, exhibits many honorable traits that any reader would appreciate. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird Atticus illustrates the qualities of being humble, intelligent, and ultimately courageous.…

    • 717 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    “Like film genres themselves, trends in media criticism are cyclical, a pattern exemplified by the history of film genre studies” (Mittell, 2000, pg. 88). This quote exemplifies how trends, especially in the American media, usually come full circle, or reoccur, as seen in the history of film genre study. In the book review titled “Refiguring American Film Genres, Theory and History” (Mittell, 2000) we learn learning about genres became distinguished in the 1970’s. Goodykoontz & Jacobs (2011) say that genre is a type of categorization and genre films are identified by a specific categorization of film type. Thus, genre theory is the categorization of film based on similarities in technique and story line. For instance, “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962) fits into the categorization of courtroom drama type of genre. Courtroom dramas such as “To Kill A Mockingbird” (1962) are distinguished categorizations of American film and have the similarities of being Hollywood productions, deal with the legal system in…

    • 1706 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    I 'd like you to think about what makes To Kill a Mockingbird such a renowned literary work of art. What is it that the book exposes to the reader that makes the book so moving? The answer lies in the fact of early 20th century racism in the South. Every aspect of this book, as you will soon be shown, is based upon the time, place and mood of the book-- it is historical fiction, after all. Therefore, in the case of To kill a mockingbird, the setting & mood is absolutely the most important of all the elements of fiction. At heart, this book is about racism and the nature of society in this time, with all core ideas dependent on the time, place, and social conditions thereof.…

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays