Adam Scott Thompson at 2013-12-01 11:50:03:

In this scene, you can see that he is truly sorry for his crimes and not under duress due to his impending doom. Juxtapose that with the climax of"In the Bedroom," where the father, Matt, kills his son's murderer, Richard. Richard is contrite but only because he fears for his life. He then tries to rationalize his crime -- he's not really sorry, just scared. Poncelet is not scared but rather resigned. There's also that uncomfortable truth haunting both narratives: Taking a life won't bring back one that's already been lost. This challenges the nature of closure.

blknwite at 2013-12-01 16:02:50:

http://www.wingclips.com/movie-clips/the-interpreter/choosing-forgiveness The Interpreter Writing Credits:Martin Stellman ... (story) & Brian Ward ... (story) Charles Randolph ... (screenplay) and Scott Frank ... (screenplay) and Steven Zaillian ... (screenplay) Silvia Broome: Everyone who loses somebody wants revenge on someone, on God if they can't find anyone else. But in Africa, in Matobo, the Ku believe that the only way to end grief is to save a life. If someone is murdered, a year of mourning ends with a ritual that we call the Drowning Man Trial. There's an all-night party beside a river. At dawn, the killer is put in a boat. He's taken out on the water and he's dropped. He's bound so that he can't swim. The family of the dead then has to make a choice. They can let him drown or they can swim out and save him. The Ku believe that if the family lets the killer drown, they'll have justice but spend the rest of their lives in mourning. But if they save him, if they admit that life isn't always just... that very act can take away their sorrow. Vengeance is a lazy form of grief. (I was trying to find something about the opposite of forgiveness, i.e., unforgiveness and found this. Sometimes forgiveness is just not enough. Better that they rot in hell. Sometimes. )

Scott at 2013-12-01 20:20:01:

I screen "Dead Man Walking" every spring for my History of American Screenwriting class, an example indie filmmaking. It's a powerful movie, not only because of the subject matter, but also because writer-director Robbins goes to great lengths to play the issue of capital punishment down the middle, even though he himself is an advocate of repealing the death penalty.