Dead Man Walking

Dead Man Walking is about the nun Helen Prejean, who becomes spiritual adviser and sole confidante to the condemned murderer Matthew Poncelet. Helen has never tried anything like it before and discovers how she must tread carefully so as not to hurt or upset anyone, not least the parents of the murdered. The film is outstanding in its nuanced portrayal of its characters and its realistic plot. Matthew Poncelet has several redeeming features while at the same time being the prototype of a death-row inmate.

It is Helen's task to give Matthew comfort and relief, but also to make him realise the cruelty of the terrible crime he committed. In glimpses we see sickening excerpts from the crime, in which Matthew and an older friend brutalised, raped and killed a young teenage couple in love.

Dead Man Walking made a big impression, especially in retrospect, but the subject of the death penalty is, all things considered, not relevant to us Danes. I have absolutely no doubt that the death penalty will never be reintroduced in Denmark. The eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth notion seems primitive and outdated to us, whereas that is by no means the case in the USA.