West Of Memphis (2012); true crime documentary film review

Poster artwork for the true crime documentary film West Of Memphis.

Fighting For Freedom by Linh

Director/writer/producer Peter Jackson (The Lord of The Rings Trilogy, The Lovely Bones) has always been ready to work on projects that are interesting, meaningful or important to him, so when he and his partner Fran Walsh heard about the 1993 murders of three little boys in West Memphis, Arkansas in America, they wanted to help seek justice for the deceased boys and freedom for the three teenage boys whom they believed were wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for the murders. Director Amy Berg (Deliver Us From Evil, This Is America) came onboard shortly after, and she collaborated with Jackson and Walsh, along with one of the wrongly accused killers, Damien Wayne Echols, and his partner Lorri Davis on this documentary.

In May 1993, the naked and mutilated bodies of three boys, all aged eight, were found in a creek, each were hog-tied (left wrist tied to left ankle with shoelaces and right wrist tied to right ankle with shoelaces). The three boys were local residents of West Memphis and were named Steven Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers. According to the West Memphis Police Department, all three boys were killed as a result of a Satanic ritual and they arrested three suspects – 18 year-old Damien Echols, 17 year-old Jessie Misskelley Jr., and 16 year-old (Charles) Jason Baldwin. All three teenagers were interviewed but it was Misskelley Jr.’s so-called confession, some dodgy testimonies and Medical Examiner Frank Peretti’s dubious claims about Christopher Byers genital mutilation, that swayed the judge’s verdict to find the three teenagers guilty.

TEENAGE TRIO: Police mug shots of the West Memphis Three, Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr., and Jason Baldwin. Image: West Memphis Police Department.

West Of Memphis is a true crime documentary film inspired by the television documentaries screened on the HBO channel in the USA called Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, Paradise Lost 2: Revelations and Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory. All three of the television documentaries presented compelling evidence that the three teenagers were framed and are innocent. Jackson appears in West Of Memphis as a supporter of the three imprisoned teenagers, who have become known as the West Memphis Three, and speaks of his horror and disgust at the crime committed and the serious miscarriage of justice against the three teenagers. The film also features Lorri Davis, who married Damien Echols while he was in prison, and her efforts to free him and find the real killer or killers who murdered the three children.

This documentary is mostly in chronological order, with some archival images and interviews from the past that are shown in the present. It chronicles the people affected by the murders, the evidence presented in the murder trial and the aftermath of the wrongful convictions of the West Memphis Three. Following the three tele-documentaries screened on HBO in the US, many grew suspicious and doubtful that the three teenagers were the real killers, as the evidence against them was highly disputable and none of the three teenagers had any motives for the murders. People-power and support from high profile entertainers like Eddie Vedder from rock group Pearl Jam, singer Patti Smith, singer Natalie Maines from the alternative country group The Dixie Chicks, actor Johnny Depp and entertainer Henry Rollins, joined forces to create a campaign to free the West Memphis Three and raised money for the legal funds.

CHILD CASUALTIES: Justice is still being sought for the three murdered boys, Chris Byers, Michael Moore and Steve Branch. Image: Sony Pictures.

West Of Memphis attempts to show a balanced and even-handed approach in its presentation of the evidence, interviews with the friends and family of the murdered children and interviews with the defense and prosecutors for the West Memphis Three. The aim of the documentary is to provide enough evidence to prove the West Memphis Three were wrongly accused and wrongly convicted of the murders and to release them from prison. However, part of the evidence to free the three men includes finding the real killer. This was the difficult part of the film-makers’ task because the identity of the alleged real killer is shown in the documentary film but the defense team for the West Memphis Three have no power to bring any charges against that person. That job is for the prosecution team, who decided to no longer investigate the case following the release of the West Memphis Three.

PASSIONATE PLEA: Defense lawyer Dennis Riordan, Eddie Vedder, Lorri Davis and Natalie Maines present their argument to free the West Memphis Three in an interview with CNN. Image: CNN.

This documentary is disturbing due to the themes of child abuse, miscarriage of justice and it shows actual crime scene footage and photographs of the murder victims when police found them. New information, more forensic tests, new DNA evidence and recent interviews of those who gave false testaments against the West Memphis Three were also shown.  Although the film-makers have succeeded in gaining freedom for the West Memphis Three who spent eighteen years in prison, they are yet to seek justice for the three little boys, whose real killer still walks free. After the end credits roll, the billboard sign featuring the West Memphis Three is shown, accompanied by the words “information is freedom”. A few seconds later, their photos morph into the images of the three dead boys with the words “information is justice”. This summarises the efforts of the film-makers in producing and screening this documentary and suggests the fight is not over.

Director: Amy Berg

Writers: Amy Berg, Billy McMillin

Producers: Amy Berg, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Damien Wayne Echols, Lorri Davis, Ken Kamins, Matthew Dravitzki, Katelyn Howes, Alejandra Riguero, Tina Elmo, Dan Kaplow

Original Music Composers: Nick Cave, Warren Ellis

Cinematographers:  Maryse Alberti, Ronan Killeen

Film Editor: Billy McMillin

Running Time: 2 hours and 25 minutes

The Lovely Bones (2009); supernatural murder mystery film review

Poster artwork for the supernatural murder mystery film The Lovely Bones.

Spirit Connections by Linh

The Lovely Bones is the film adaptation of Alice Sebold's beloved book of the same name and is director Peter Jackson's latest film following his blockbusters The Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong. Transcribing it from page to screen proved to be a challenge, but Peter Jackson and his fellow screenwriters/producers Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens have succeeded in creating a superb adaptation that works equally well as a stand alone film. While the book is an emotionally-charged read about a family dealing with a young child's death, the film is a supernatural crime thriller with a strong focus on Susie Salmon's in-between rather than the family breakdowns and strained relationships following her death. 

AWAKENING: Susie (Saoirse Ronan) wakes to an in-between world in the film The Lovely Bones. Image: Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks.

The story is set in the 1970s and narrated by the main character, Susie Salmon, a fourteen year old, who is raped and murdered by her neighbour George Harvey. She watches her family cope with her death while she's in an otherworldly state. Susie doesn't realise she is dead and in an in-between world until she starts seeing images of her killer, the murder weapon and other little clues that connect Harvey to her murder. The brutal rape scene which was detailed in the book has been omitted by Peter Jackson to make the film more family friendly. The flashbacks Susie experiences and the editing gives the viewer all they need to make the connections and the audience discovers answers at the same time Susie does. Susie has the ability to tap into the thoughts and emotions of the living and from her in-between, she can control how they feel and what they do simply by willing it to happen. Susie is already dead as she narrates, and her spirit cannot leave the in-between while her killer remains at large, and because her loved ones are still holding on to memories of her instead of moving on with their lives.

UNNEIGHBOURLY: George Harvey (Stanley Tucci) keeps an eye on his neighbours in the film The Lovely Bones. Image: Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks.

The Lovely Bones features motifs and metaphors throughout, such as the harrowing scene where Susie finally enters an open door of a house which represents George Harvey's subconscious. While she is there, she can see all the young female victims who have been raped and murdered by Harvey during the last decade. Harvey had taken Susie's charm bracelet as a souvenir, but only kept the house charm. It is this little house that is symbolic of the place which holds the dark secrets of his crimes - in his memories.

PREDATORY: George Harvey (Stanley Tucci) follows Susie (Saoirse Ronan) through the cornfield in the film The Lovely Bones. Image: Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks.

The film moves at a steady pace, with moments of heightened fear as Susie's sister Lindsey searches for evidence in Harvey's house, to some tender and touching times as Susie tries to reach into her father's consciousness to let him know she's OK and who her killer is. The challenge of 'showing' the audience what is happening inside one's mind through actions instead of words is no mean feat; yet with the blend of strong performances from the lead actors and some special effects, the thoughts and emotions are made visibly obvious.

CRUSH: Grandma Lynn (Susan Sarandon) notices Susie (Saoirse Ronan) is secretly in love with Ray in the film The Lovely Bones. Image: Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks.

Leading the ensemble cast is Irish actress Saoirse (rhymes with 'Persia') Ronan, an Oscar nominee for her excellent performance in Atonement, who plays Susie and is so convincing with her bright blue eyes as to make one believe in her sincerity and innocence lost; Mark Wahlberg gives his character, Jack Salmon, enough emotional angst to show he really cares about and loves his daughter but not enough for the audience to care about his character; Rachel Weisz is wonderful but under-utilised as Susie's grieving mother, Abigail, who just wants to move on and move away from the pain and suffering her daughter's disappearance and death is bringing to the family; Susan Sarandon brilliantly provides the comedy relief in the film as Susie's Grandma Lynn, who arrives to keep the family from falling apart and into an emotional blackhole, with her big hair, plenty of make-up, cigarette in one hand and alcohol in the other. Her appearance changes dramatically when her character transforms to flat hair and no make-up as she becomes a more responsible person; Stanley Tucci's Italian features are barely recognisable under a wig, facial hair and make-up in a fantastic portrayal of the ordinary and plain paedophile and pervert George Harvey, which has earned him Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award nominations; New Zealand actress Rose McIver is fabulous as Susie's younger sister Lindsey who suspects her neighbour George Harvey of her sister's murder.

SIGNS: Jack (Mark Wahlberg) sees Susie in the light of the candle in the film The Lovely Bones. Image: Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks.

The Lovely Bones is visually stunning and beautifully filmed, with CGI used to create Susie's in-between, which is her own imagined utopia stemming from her subconscious, rather than being an actual physical place. A state best described as existing between Heaven and Earth. Susie experiences things as though she is sometimes in a dream with brightly coloured clothes, funky platform shoes, and an environment that changes abruptly and unexpectedly, sometimes at her whim. The musical score by Brian Eno is like an emotional sound wave that flows and sets the mood with serenity, happiness and hope or fear, horror and sadness. Most of the film uses sound editing effectively, and accompanies the visual effects to produce plenty of beguiling imagery and scintillating sounds.

FAMILY: Abigail (Rachel Weisz) tells her son Buckley (Christian Thomas Ashdale) that Susie will be home soon  in the film The Lovely Bones. Image: Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks.

The Lovely Bones is a film of hope and light at the end of the tunnel which will strike an emotional chord for those who have grieved or mourned a loved one who has passed away. Some fans of the book will be disappointed as this is not a direct reflection of the novel. Instead of a cinematic carbon copy of the book, it is an enthralling and brilliant film which bears the usual trademarks of Peter Jackson's visionary élan. It's a shame people still judge a film by the book from which it was adapted. Afterall, Peter Jackson is not a director/producer who will always do things "by the book". That is part of his genius.

IN-BETWEEN: Susie (Saoirse Ronan) senses danger while in her in-between world in the film The Lovely Bones. Image: Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks.

Director: Peter Jackson

Writers: Alice Sebold (book), Peter Jackson (screenplay), Fran Walsh (screenplay), Phillipa Boyens (screenplay)

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Susan Sarandon, Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci, Rose McIver, Reece Ritchie, Michael Imperioli, Carolyn Dando, Christian Thomas Ashdale, Nikki Soohoo

Producers: Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg, Fran Walsh, Phillipa Boyens, James Wilson, Ken Kamins

Original Music Composer: Brian Eno

Cinematographer: Andrew Lesnie

Film Editor: Jabez Olssen

Production: Naomi Shohan (Production Designer), Jules Cook, Chris Shriver (Art Directors), Meg Everist, George DeTitta Jr. (Set Decorator)

Costume Designer: Nancy Steiner

Running Time: 2 hours and 10 minutes