Peter Medak's Gain of the Viewer's Sympathy for Derek Bentley in the Film Let Him Have It
The film 'Let Him Have it' is a powerful social drama based on a true
story. The film's Director, Peter Medak, made this film in 1991
because he thought the judicial hanging of Derek Bentley in 1953 was a
grave miscarriage of justice. Peter Medak, like many film directors,
used his bias to show his sympathy to the viewers, probably in the
hope that the he could pass his sympathy on to many people in order to
influence their view. Bias is a tendency to support or oppose a
particular person or thing in an unfair way by allowing personal
opinions to influence your judgment.
By influencing the public view regarding the events surrounding this
November evening in 1952, Peter Medak was perhaps hoping that people
would be drawn into sympathising with Derek Bentley and his family,
ensuring that a miscarriage of justice such as this would never happen
again. The film showed the Bentley family's suffering and may have
also subsequently helped clear Derek Bentley's name. Having said this,
I also maybe think that Peter Medak wanted to make some money from the
film, after all it is his job. Films based on true stories draw many
people to the box office in the name of entertainment and curiosity,
but Peter Medak's careful reconstruction of events reveals why this
miscarriage of justice shocked our nation.
Derek Bentley was hanged at the age of 19, on January 28th 1953, for a
murder he did not commit. He had been a recluse for most of his life
since suffering brain damage during the World War 2 bombing of London.
He was illiterate and epileptic with the
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England's decision to abolish capital punishment in the mid 1960's.
The defense position at the trial was that Bentley never uttered the
words "let him have it." The defense argued that the police realized
that Craig was too young to hang, and so concocted the story to
implicate Bentley in the killing. In the mid-1990's, the English
government formally apologized to Bentley's family for executing a
brain-damaged person. In the late 1990's, an examination of the police
file revealed that the police officer committed perjury. Bentley never
shouted, "Let him have it, Chris."
There have been many films about capital punishment. They all convey
the same message: no matter what arguments can be made in its favour,
if the law makes a mistake, an innocent life is lost. Few lives were
more innocent than Derek Bentley's.
...hen he was asked a series of questions about the murder he had no opinion or a reasonable answer to why exactly he had killed the man.
sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. The case against him was largely
war in case he had been injured or killed. His crimes do come back to
he spoke of his dad in an almost heroic sense. He wanted everyone to remember
He was standing on the balcony of a motel in Memphis Which is where he had made a trip to help a sanitation laborers' strike. In the wake of his passing, a rush of mobs cleared significant urban areas the nation over, while President Johnson announced a national day of grieving. James Earl Ray, a got away convict and known bigot, conceded to the murder and was condemned to 99 years in jail.
he suffered through-out his life, ie. the war, the holocaust, his wife's suicide, and his heart disease.
dangerous man and was guilty of the murder, and who knows what else. Upon Walter’s release
gouged out the eyes of one of his victims - was she alive or dead at the time? -
everything he owned. He took refuge in criminal activity, and was sent to prison. His
...s is related to his philosophy about doing the right thing and about a being a good person. But it goes beyond this. He spoke often about having true compassion. It isn’t enough to help those in need, but we must truly care about them, to take a good look and see how they got that way. He asked us to examine how we as a society can change the conditions that led them to be there in the first place. Doing this makes us better as people. I have found that it also makes me feel better. Never give up on your dreams. While his life was cut tragically short, he died in pursuit of his dream and in spite of everything he faced, he never gave up on it. He faced obstacles I could never imagine having to face, and still persisted. This reminds me that the small things in my life that often seem insurmountable, are just my excuses for not taking action and are not obstacles.
On behalf of my entire family, I want to thank all of you for your compassion and for being present here today. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Mauri-Lynne, and I'm Lionel's daughter. Dad was devoted to every one of you. We all hope that you'll share your memories of him with us, if not today then in the weeks and months to come.
As a society there are a lot of qualities that men have been socialized to uphold when it comes to how they act or react, what they support, and what they suppress. This movie produces a harsh critique of male socialization early on and continues
The sketchy part about the whole story is that he was cremated immediately after he died, the next day. Why would they cremate a murder victim the day after the murder? That is a question that remains to be unanswered. The memorial services were canceled in both Los Angeles and Atlanta.
his parents to show them he had hurt him self. At times they even felt
him to a tragic end of his own life, and also caused the deaths of