How Peter Medak Gains the Viewer's Sympathy for Derek Bentley in the Film Let Him Have It

How Peter Medak Gains the Viewer's Sympathy for Derek Bentley in the Film Let Him Have It

The film 'Let Him Have It', tells the real-life story of Derek

Bentley. Derek is a nineteen year old epileptic who is caught breaking

into a shed in his early youth. He is sent to approved school but is

released early due to his epilepsy and his low IQ. It is later on

discovered that Derek has the mental age of eleven, this plays a great

part in the injustice later on. After his release he ends up being

involved with a local youth, Christopher Craig, an American style

gangster with a dangerous hobby. Derek follows Chris around,

undertaking any activity which he does. One of these includes a

midnight robbery of a warehouse. This, however, turns drastically

wrong when Chris ends up shooting two officers, fatally wounding one

whilst injuring another. Both boys are found guilty of murder and

Chris is imprisoned, leaving Derek to face the death penalty. Despite

obvious bias and protests, the sentence is carried out. The story is

so controversial for many reasons. One was being Derek's mental age of

eleven. Any eleven-year-old would not be allowed in court, let alone

face the death penalty. There was also strong bias on behalf of the

judge involved, pressuring the jury into their verdict. It was also an

unfair charge as Derek did not actually commit the murder. In this

essay, I will discuss how Medak uses lots of close-ups for emphasis on

Derek's emotions; how he seems never to fit in and is alienated from

his problems; different camera angles and lighting angles used to

create emphasis; how Derek and Chris' lives are contrasting and are

made to l...

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are easy to empathise with. The opinion of Medak is quite obvious to

thinking Bentley was innocent, and the way he uses Derek's innocence

versus the dark, gangster style of Chris makes this plain to see. The

overall message of the film seems to be to prove Derek's innocence.

The sympathy generated during the film makes this point clear, as in

every scene there is an instance in which Derek is shown to be just a

simple child who wants a nice life with his parents. He is very biased

in his opinions, and shows this during the court scene where the Judge

and jury are biased against Derek despite the obvious innocence. The

devices he uses are very effective, as it is very easy to identify

with Derek and his family, so you can sympathise with the situation he

is in. The film overall, I feel puts this point across well.