The film just mercy is a 2019 release that was directed by Daniel Creston. The genre of the film is a biographical legal drama that revolves around court matters. Essentially, the film tells of accounts that occurred more than two decades ago with an intertwined story that includes aspects of the society such as injustice, social classism, and racism. Essentially, the film can be analyzed through the use of theory and various devices used. The story involves a black man named Walter McMillan, who is convicted of murder. Essentially, a young lawyer goes to the man's aid and tries to find justice for the convict. Essentially, there seems to be an unwillingness by those involved by the young lawyer to help bring back the case to court (Cretton, 2019). Stevenson, the lawyer, manages to have the investigation begin, and the man and his friend Anthony ray are released separately towards the end.
Plot
A graduate from Harvard school of law called Stevenson goes to Alabama with the hope of fight for the poor people who are unable to find justice as a result of its cost in 1986. Significantly, he goes to the prison and meets a murder convict named Walter McMillan, who was convicted of murdering a white man Morrison. After questioning the convict and the prosecutions witness call Myers, Stevenson discovers the testimonies are inconsistent. The prosecution declines the request of the lawyer even without considering his notes (Cretton, 2019). Stevenson asks Houston, a friend of the convict, to testify as a corroborator of Myer's testimony, and he is arrested for perjury.
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The lawyer is intimidated by police but finally convinces Myers to speak the truth against his earlier testimony. The convict says they had threatened to burn him and execute him if he failed to testify against McMillan. Stevenson falls out with Chapman, the prosecutor, over the case, but the lawyer moves motion in court, which Chapman corroborates. The case is thrown out, releasing Walter. Hinton, a cellmate of Walter, is also released two years after McMillan's death after being on death row for 28 years (Cretton, 2019). Stevenson continues to fight for justice for the poor.
Theory
One of the essential theories in filming includes the auteur theory. The approach was founded by Andrew saris, who based his argument around the director of a film. Essentially, the theory views the director as the author of the movie as opposed to the writer. This means that the director is the most crucial character is telling the story, and the director only influences the plot by directing the camera works, lighting, and characters. In essence, in filming, the blocking of the characters' actions tells the story more than the screenplay writer does. In this theory, the director seems to consolidate their work bring ideas together in what seems like an obsession and signature style that announces their work. This film's theme is similar to the one Cretton uses in the movie "short term 12." Both movies express the message of compassion and freeing the characters from their behaviors or from prison ( Malle, 2018 ). The obsession with this message indicates that the auteur theory best suits the analogy of this film. The director significantly displays his obsession, which affects the story.
Mainly, it is evident that auteur theory can best explain the just mercy film. In this film, the director's particular obsession, which is similarity across all works of the director. The lighting and other devices are common features in most films by Cretton ( Hayati, 2018 ). Cretton appears to be both the story writer and director. The involvement of the director in this film centralizes his role in the film, causing the story to depend on his story telling cinematic skills. The director's influence in the story can be seen through the excessive use of devices such as symbolism through themes resulting from creativity with the camera. There is a scene where the main character is seen looking up between trees and cutting them down. This aspect symbolizes that he is walking towards freedom ( Malle, 2018 ). In essence, the director uses these tall trees to further the story by indicating the height of injustice McMillan is facing. This fact shows that despite there being a script, the director's work is essential, and without the director, most of the story may as well be untold. In most cases, Cretton has left the viewers to fill gaps for themselves by using these elements.
Techniques
There is a particular use of mise en scene elements to bring various light aspects of the movie. In essence, there is the utilization of natural lighting, especially in the court scenes. The use of natural lighting helps to create the notion of the time that this film is set in ( Malle, 2018 ). it is essential to consider that the movie is set in the 1980s, and hence it must appear like it (Cretton, 2019). The lighting allows the director to rely on the light from the windows that work together with the wooden walls' brown color to bring out a vintage appearance. The moody lighting is another aspect of lighting that is used various times in the movie. For example, the prison scenes have gloomy lighting, which creates a dull mood in the scenes ( Hayati, 2018 ). This dull mood is meant to depict the sad reality of injustice and racism that is the scenes. However, the lighting in the scenes where McMillan and Stevenson are together is brighter. The brightening in these scenes is made possible by the addition of floodlights to indicate the presence of hope as there is hope for justice for the convict.
The natural lighting is strengthened by the costumes used by the characters in these scenes. For instance, the lawyer's suit and the dress that Walters's mother wears indicate that the timing is not present but long ago (Cretton, 2019). Additionally, the difference in costumes used by the convict's family and the lawyers and other individuals is important in showing the class difference. The convict is poor, and this is reflective in the use of the shirt without a coat as opposed to most men in the court scenes.
The other technique used is that of sound that is important in bringing out the story. For instance, there is a prominent humming throughout the film. Sadly, a woman is heard humming in most scenes, which symbolizes the sadness and discrimination in the movie. The black woman humming sound is mostly used in the black film to symbolize the characters' oppression (Cretton, 2019). One of the theme songs is "old rugged cross," which paints the picture of suffering.
Analysis
The film dramatically indicates the various problems in society today. Despite the setting being in the 80s, there are similarities to today's society. For instance. the movie talks about the role played by racism in the determinacy of justice. The main character, who is a black man, suffers in prison in an attempt by the system to cover the sins of a white man who murdered the white victim (Cretton, 2019). The real killer is unknown to the end, which is the reality in the American society where black people are regarded stereotypically as criminals.
Also, there is an apparent reference to the connection between poverty and justice. In American society, justice depends on the ability to pay a good lawyer or to pay bail to acquire freedom. Therefore, there is an excellent relation between the story by Cretton and society. The film, however, denotes that there are changes in the society ( Malle, 2018 ). The hope represented in the movie indicates that the justice system will get better, which has. In a closer look, one concludes that the film foreshadows equality in the eyes of justice, which America is moving towards.
In conclusion, the director uses elements such as sound, costumes and lighting to develop the story. The lighting and sound indicate both angers and suffering from the characters being oppressed. Essentially, from the role played by the director in developing the theme through devices such as symbolism and asserting his obsession for care and compassion, the auteur theory best describes the film. The film is related to the society as it describes events that occur in community.
References
Cretton , D. D. (2019). Just Mercy. Online: IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4916630/
Hayati, Z. (2018). An Analysis Of The Basic Textual Contrastsin The Literary And Cinematic Discourse The Case Study: A Comparison Between The Story Ashghalduni (Dustbin) And The Adapted Movie Dayereh-Ye Mina.
Malle, J. F. (2018). Making Movies: Reflexivity, the Auteur, and the Pragmatics of Contemporary Film Production (Doctoral dissertation, State University of New York at Binghamton).
