The life of David Gale - 2003
"A healthy society must stop at nothing to cleanse itself of evil" - Adolf Hitler
David Gale, from an active member of an anti-capital punishment activist group, to death row, for rape and murder. Weird story, isn't it ? Especially if you know that his victim was his closest friend, and also an opponent of capital punishment, Constance Hallaway.
Kevin Spacey, Laura Linney, Kate Winslet (and others) in one of the best (if not the best) drama thriller movie about Death Penalty (in the U.S).
Trailer
Initial release: February 18, 2003 (USA)
Director: Alan Parker
Screenplay: Charles Randolph
Box office: 38.96 million USD
Editor: Gerry Hambling
Actors: Kevin Spacey, Laura Linney, Kate Winslet...
Gale (Kevin Spacey) is the head of the philosophy department at Austin university. He and Constance Hallaway (Laura Linney) are the most important members of an anti-capital punishment activist group. but in a bizarre twist of fate he finds himself in the death row for raping and killing his partner(Hallaway). Betsy Bloom is a nervy and honest journalist, who's supposed to be the one who's gonna save him. But she have to believe him first.
To solve this enigme, Betsy (and the audience) got what she (they) need from Gale: flashbacks, each building character (Especially Laura linney who was constantly complex and likable) and motive to ward an exciting and most unexpected conclusion. The way stories have been told, gonna leave you gasping for air and will keep you at the edge of your seat trying to guess what's going to happen next.
During the few days left before the execution of David Gale, Betsy gonna find some evidence (videos) that suggest that Gale has been framed. The more time is passing, the more she's getting sure that her client is innocent. By the end Bloom begin a race against time.
Despite her great efforts, she couldn't make it. And David Gale was executed. Until this point, the movie was having a typical sad ending. But it's not. In fact it's its ending that made it not only a subject for cinematographers to discuss, but also to philosophers and thinkers. It suggest a philosophical topic about "The meaning of life" and "Self-Sacrifice". As David Gale and Constance Hallaway both sacrifices their lives to leave the world as a better place than they found it. This movie should've been nominated for the "human rights" award.
This movie have created a controversy about the death penalty in U.S is just an excellently executed film with compelling writing, superb acting and "the end".
I remember one of my friends rephrasing what Gale first told Betsy :"No one who looks through the silver screen (the glass) see a movie (person), they see a work of art (crime)". I was disappointed by how underrated this movie is. And i recommend it to everyone. Whether you're for or against the Death Penalty, this movie will force to change your thoughts on who committed the crime.
Ending scene
Death penalty :
It's one of the most pressing issue in America: used by 31 state and reinstated in 1976. Since then the government executed an average of 46,4 per year (until 2016). In 2013, 39 inmates were executed in the U.S, and 3,088 were on death row. Methods of this criminal act are: electrocution, gas inhalation, hanging, firing squad, lethal injection, each state has its way.
Since 1973, 140 people have been released from death rows throughout the country due to the evidence of their wrongful conviction ; this is what Gale and Constance proved in "The life of David Gale".
More informations :
+Dozen of prisoners have been executed despite suffering from serious mental illness (The U.S is giving them the minimal protection).
+Women make up fewer than 2% of the inmates sentenced to die on death row in the U.S, according to the Death Penalty information center
+over 2/3 of the countries in the world have now abolished the Death Penalty
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/FactSheet.pdf
http://www.amnestyusa.org/pdfs/DeathPenaltyFactsMay2012.pdf
Purpose of life & Self sacrifice :
The question about the significance of living or existence in general have been answered by many different cultural and ideological backgrounds. And the movie give a deep compassion to human's lives Which will leave you thinking for a long time about the purpose of life.
Giving a meaning to your life is suggested to be spending it for something that will outlast it. Sacrificing yourself for the good of another. And both Constance and Gale showed that they have the endure things that would destroy any human being.strength, the patience and the high tolerance for discomfort to do so.
