To Kill a Mockingbird was first a Pulitzer Prize winning novel written by Harper Lee. It was published in 1960, in the midst of John F. Kennedy’s presidency and the civil rights movement. It is often touted to be one of the best novels of all time. Screenwriter Horton Foote and director Robert Mulligan had large shoes to fill when tackling the screen adaptation, but their efforts resulted in one of the greatest films of all time. The challenge of adapting literature into a successful film experience is daunting, but it was done expertly, while retaining a great deal of fidelity to Lee’s novel. The film version of To Kill A Mockingbird is layered and complex. The visual imagery captures childhood in a small southern town, and presents its …show more content…
Often, a high camera angle is used to show the diminutive nature of the person in the shot. However, this is NOT the case in the courtroom scenes shot from the upper gallery. The black community is relegated to the hot, upper balconies of the courthouse. Atticus is seen from their vantage point. In this case, Atticus takes on a gladiatorial role. It is almost like he is a fighter in a coliseum getting ready to do battle. Scout and Jem are readily accepted into the black ranks. When Atticus leaves the courtroom, the blacks in the balcony rise out of respect for Atticus. It is a truly moving and poignant moment.
Evil continues to emerge from the dark. Tom Robinson escapes and is shot and killed. Atticus goes to the Robinson home that night to break the news. Jem watches from the car. A drunken Bob Ewell stumbles out of the dark and peers into the windows of the car, frightening Jem with his manner and verbal threats. The complexity of the story lies in the skillfully interwoven storylines—that of the upheaval caused by Atticus’ representation of a black man, and the story of Scout and Jem as they grow and mature. Atticus’ story impacts Jem and Scout, but much of their childhood experience unwinds separately, until the two stories collide at the end of the