It has often been said that "Dead Man Walking" is an anti-death penalty film, and that the real power of this movie is in its emotion. Both of these observations are true about "Dead Man Walking," but not in any way that you would expect.
"Dead Man Walking" is based on the real life experiences of Helen Prejean, a nun who became the spiritual advisor to two Louisiana death-row inmates in 1982, and would later write a book of the same name condemning the death penalty. In the film version, Helen's opposition to the death penalty is empassioned and this is what carries the whole story. She just doesn't quit on death-row inmate Matthew Poncelet, even after all her options have led to dead ends. And she doesn't give up when it comes to trying to show Matthew how much damage he's done and urges him to take responsibility for his actions.
But director Tim Robbins did a smart thing. He firmly acknowledged the emotion of those who disagreed with Helen, and he did not make it easy for the character. Robbins himself has said that he believes that "Dead Man Walking" was effective as a film for that very reason.
That doesn't make it easy for a film that's against the death penalty to be against the death penalty. But such an issue is not an easy one, especially for Helen. During one part she visits the family of one of the victims. But the family throws Helen out of their house because they assumed that she had come there because she had changed her mind about the death penalty.
And even Helen eventually has doubts about what she is doing.
Much of this film's artistic success has to be credited to Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn; two lesser actors could not have performed with as much emotion and passion as these two did.
And whether you support the death penalty or are against it, it can not be denied that "Dead Man Walking" is one of the best films about capital punishment in America.
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