To Kill a Mockingbird
[4K/blu-ray combo]
Let’s think of a simpler time: 2020 mid-pandemic. To pass the quarantine, my wife and I had taken up watching all the movies from the AFI 100 list. It’s really a great way to get exposed to great movies you would otherwise never see. And it really puts new cinema into perspective and just how ridiculous mainstream movies have gotten. To Kill a Mockingbird came on the queue, and honestly, didn’t make much of an impact. Maybe we weren’t paying attention. Maybe we needed a 4K transfer to truly appreciate it. Revisiting movies with new eyes can really make all the difference. It worked with the Maltese Falcon, and by golly, it worked with To Kill a Mockingbird.
This truly is a movie full of layers. Atticus Finch is trying to juggle being a single dad, while being a lawyer to a town where the only currency is racism. He also doesn’t seem to be very good at either job, even though he’s being portrayed as a wise old sage by the wonderful Gregory Peck. I just can’t stop doing his voice. His kids, meanwhile, have a whole lot of growing up to do, what with Boo Radley cooped up in his house next door, the other kids at school teasing them, weird house guests pouring syrup all over their meat, and the whole town being shaken up by this trial. They have to learn some hard and heavy lessons about prejudice, injustice, and the preciousness of life. It’s a shame watching them lose their innocence, to be honest. But, it’s also beautiful watching them grow up.
This 4K edition is a beautiful transfer and is loaded with bonus materials, like documentaries, makings-of, retrospectives, and more, so get it!
Hey, that’s Benjamin Cisco’s dad! What kind of a dumb name is “Scout” anyway? Is “Heck” even worse? Why do his own kids call him Atticus? You won’t get answers to these questions, but there are many other lessons to learn in this beautiful movie.
