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This acclaimed film traces the relationship between a death-row inmate and the local nun to whom he turns for spiritual guidance in the days leading up to his scheduled execution. Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn) has been convicted of the rape and murder of two young lovers and is awaiting execution. Susan Sarandon plays Sister Helen Prejean, a nun who has devoted herself to God and to helping the less fortunate. Prejean faces a moral crisis as she tries to reconcile her anti-death penalty views with the truth of Poncelet's actions and the pain felt by the victim's families.
Credits
Cast:
Celia Weston, Lois Smith, R. Lee Ermey, Raymond J. Barry
Details
Edition:
Contemporary Classics
Notes
DVD Features:
Region 1 Encoding Keep Case
Released theatrically in New York City December 29, 1995. The film grossed $37.5 million domestically.
Susan Sarandon won Italy's David di Donatello Award for best actress in a foreign film.
At the 46th Berlin International Film Festival, the film won the Silver Bear for best actor (Sean Penn); the Ecumenical Jury prize; the German Arthouse Cinemas prize; and the Berliner Morgenpost Readers' Jury prize.
The film is set in St. Thomas Housing Project and Angola Prison in New Orleans.
The National Society of Film Critics placed Sean Penn second in the best actor category; he also won an Independent Spirit Award for best actor.
The soundtrack album includes music from and inspired by the film, by such artists as Steve Earle, Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, and Suzanne Vega.
"I'm just trying to follow the example of Jesus, who said every person is worth more than his worst act."--Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon)
Editorial reviews
"...Prodigious performances in an unsparing movie....Acting doesn't get much better than this..." Rolling Stone - p.139 - Peter Travers (12/28/1995)
"...A genuine sense of consolation....Profoundly moving....Sarandon has never been better...and Penn gives by far his finest performance to date..." Sight and Sound - p.40-1 - Stella Bruzzi (04/01/1996)
"...[Breaks] into a terrain that can only be described as spiritual. DEAD MAN WALKING is a bold, searching, wrenching experience..." -- Rating: A Entertainment Weekly - pp.36-7 - Owen Gleiberman (01/19/1996)
Ranked #5 in Entertainment Weekly's "10 Best Movies of 1995" Entertainment Weekly - pp.114-5 - Owen Gleiberman (12/29/1995)
"...A highly intriguing drama....An intimate chamber piece for two, superbly acted by Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn....[A] mature, well-crafted movie..." Variety - Emanuel Levy (12/18/1995)
"[A]n emotionally complex drama about capital punishment." USA Today - Mike Clark (03/16/2004)
Awards
1995 Academy Awards, Best Actress: Susan Sarandon
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