07/02/03

Berlino, film contro la pena di morte

In caso di conflitto con l'Iraq la Casa Bianca vorrebbe cancellare la cerimonia. L'Academy: �Non � mai accaduto in 75 anni�. Ma Hollywood teme l'attacco e cambia i piani di produzione Berlino�The Life of David Gale� � un film �che sar� utile se far� discutere su un tema difficile come la pena di morte�: Kevin Spacey presenta cos� il film di Alan Parker in concorso a Berlino, in uscita negli Usa il 21 febbraio e un mese dopo in Italia. �Essere contro la pena di morte � abbastanza ovvio - ha detto Spacey - ma con tutta onest� devo dire che non ho avuto una sorella uccisa da qualcuno e parlando con i familiari di persone assassinate mi sono reso conto che il bisogno di giustizia che esprimono � qualcosa che non pu� essere trascurato�. �The Life of David Gale� racconta la storia di un professore liberal (Spacey), marito e padre felice, politicamente impegnato in un movimento contro la pena di morte, che si ritrova condannato a morte per l'omicidio della sua compagna di partito. Tre giorni prima dell'esecuzione, Gale chiama una giornalista a caccia del Pulitzer (Winslet) per cercare di provare la sua innocenza.

Hollywood Fights Death Penalty at Berlin Film Fest

Feb 7, 2003 

 By David Crossland

BERLIN- Opponents of capital punishment have won support from Hollywood with the release of "The Life of David Gale," a thriller starring Kevin Spacey , which had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival Friday.

Spacey plays Gale, a renowned Texas philosophy professor and campaigner against the death penalty who is himself sentenced to death for allegedly raping and murdering a young fellow-campaigner.

Just three days before the lethal injection, he invites ambitious magazine journalist Bitsey Bloom, played by Kate Winslet , for an interview and asks her to help him prove his innocence.

 What follows is a series of flashbacks and a frantic search for the truth with last-minute twists adding to the tension as the clock ticks.

 British director Alan Parker, whose past films include Angel Heart, Mississippi Burning and The Commitments, said he expects the film to stir fresh discussion about capital punishment in the United States when it opens there on February 21.

 "We know the film will probably provoke a debate which will be helpful to the issue," Parker told a news conference on the second day of the 53rd Berlinale, one of Europe's top three film festivals which opened Thursday.

 "BRAVE DECISION"

 Parker praised the "very, very brave" decision of Illinois Governor George Ryan to commute the death sentences of all the state's 167 condemned prisoners last month, two days before he was to leave office.

 Ryan said he emptied the state's death row because the system was "arbitrary, capricious and therefore immoral."

 Investigations had revealed that 13 condemned prisoners in the state were innocent.

 There are more than 3,000 prisoners on death row in the United States and President Bush  is a strong supporter of the death penalty.

 Bush presided over 152 executions during his six years as governor of Texas, and brushed off international protests as the federal government resumed executions in 2001 after a 38-year lapse.

 "The Life of David Gale" is among 22 films vying for the "Golden Bear" award in the competition. Capital punishment was a theme in a contender for the award last year, "Monster's Ball," starring Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton (news).

 Spacey said statistics showing the death penalty was not an effective deterrent to murder spoke for themselves. "But I've never had my sister murdered and I have no idea what that must be like, to have one's life and family torn apart," he said.

But he said relatives of people killed in the Oklahoma City bombing who had watched Timothy McVeigh 's execution had "the biggest, strangest anti-climax because he was put to sleep. Is it really a penalty? Does it work?"

Berlin ranks behind Cannes and beside Venice among Europe's film festivals, and has drawn stars such as Richard Gere , Catherine Zeta-Jones  and George Clooney  this year to add glitz to the German capital.