The film is based on the
real-life case from 1925 in which two great lawyers argue for and against a
science teacher who is accused of the crime of teaching evolution.
Director Stanley Kramer
is maybe best known for his films It’s a Mad, Mad,
Mad, Mad World and Guess Who’s Coming
to Dinner, but I would argue that his courtroom dramas Inherit the Wind and
Judgment at
Nuremberg are his best. He worked with composer Ernest Gold,
cinematographer Ernest
Laszlo, and production designer Rudolph Sternad
on this film.
The cast is fantastic and the
film’s strongest aspect. Each actor gives a phenomenal performance. The film
stars Spencer
Tracy, Fredric
March, and Gene
Kelly, while featuring Dick York, Harry Morgan,
Claude Akins,
and Elliot
Reid in support.
Inherit the Wind is a very good
courtroom drama and fans of those types of films should enjoy it (although, I am
not convinced that the procedures and protocol resemble a real courtroom in any
way). The film, however, is an even better social drama. And sadly and maybe
surprisingly, the issues tackled in the film are still present in modern
society. Things like: freedom of speech, freedom to discover and learn new
things (regardless of whether these things are treated as facts/truths or not),
and freedom to be different. In the film the science teacher is persecuted for
teaching evolution in a small town that is very religious (some protestant
faction). The law forbids him from teaching the topic in the local public high
school (despite the whole separation of church and state), but he does it
anyway believing that his students should be aware of all possibilities and
decide for themselves (which seems reasonable). What strikes me is that even
today, eighty-nine years after the original case this is still a hot topic,
religious groups clashing with public education/science. It is just kind of sad
that we as a people have not progressed past a place of fear, ignorance, and
mistrust (regardless of religious beliefs). It is a little frightening as well.
Films like Inherit the Wind are important as they expose and explore the power
and narrow-mindedness (on both sides) of beliefs existing in a state of ‘tunnel
vision’ often leading to people becoming their worst-selves.
Trailer: Here
No comments:
Post a Comment