The life of David Gale

Movie
German title	The life of David Gale
Original title	The Life of David Gale
Country of production	USA , Germany
original language	English
Publishing year	2003
length	130 minutes
Age rating	FSK 12 ; JMK 14
Rod
Director	Alan Parker
script	Charles Randolph
production	Alan Parker, Nicolas Cage
music	Alex Parker, Jake Parker
camera	Michael Seresin
cut	Gerry Hambling
occupation
	Kevin Spacey : David Gale; Kate Winslet : Bitsey Bloom; Laura Linney : Constance Harraway; Gabriel Mann : Zack Stemmons; Matt Craven : Dusty Wright; Leon Rippy : Braxton Belyeu; Jim Beaver : Duke Grover; Elizabeth Guest : Sharon Gale; Rhona Mitra : Berlin; Melissa McCarthy : Nico;

The Life of David Gale is an American film from 2003 dealing with the subject of the death penalty in the United States . Kevin Spacey and Kate Winslet can be seen in the leading roles . It was directed by Alan Parker and his sons wrote the music.

action

Prof. Dr. David Gale is a well-respected philosophy professor and well-known activist against the death penalty . A student who would have done "anything" to get better grades seduces him at a party. She later filed charges against Gale for rape . Although the charges are subsequently dropped, his life is completely out of control. His wife leaves him, he loses his job, and his already significant drinking problem gets worse. Even at Death Watch , where he and his colleague Constance Harraway are fighting the death penalty, he is undesirable.

One day Harraway is found raped and murdered. The police find traces of Gale's sperm on the body and he is tried. The court sentenced him to death for this. Four days before his execution date, Gale granted an interview to the young journalist Bitsey Bloom. Bloom initially presents himself as a neutral reporter. Although Gale does not try directly to convince her of his innocence, he gradually reveals his (plausible) version of his past and the incident to her. She finds more and more indications that Gale could really be innocent and that there is more behind the matter than it seems at first glance.

Bloom finds out that Gale's colleague Harraway was terminally ill and was not murdered, but committed suicide in front of the video camera . This should look like a murder, however, because Gale and Harraway wanted to draw attention to the fact that innocent people are repeatedly being executed. However, to do so, Gale really had to be executed, because if he survived, there would be no evidence that the system of applying the death penalty was flawed. As Gale and his colleague planned, Bloom's findings are too late to prevent Gale's execution .

In the end, the story takes one last unpredictable turn for Bloom: She receives the complete video recording of the suicide. Gale's sperm traces ensured that he was the only culprit in question. He knew that it would carry the death penalty. To date, proponents of the death penalty have alleged that there have been no innocent executions in this state. So Gale sacrificed himself to rekindle criticism of the death penalty and possibly achieve a moratorium by proving that fatal, irrevocable misjudgments can occur.

He planned his end in such a way that everyone received something positive: his son received his fee of 500,000 dollars for the interview, his wife received a postcard from the student regretting her false accusations, and the reporter Bloom (through the full video ) unequivocal proof that Gale really wanted to die, and thus an explanation for the necessary failure of the attempt to prevent his death, which was planned from the outset.

criticism

Roger Ebert gave the film the lowest possible rating and described it as "intellectually bankrupt" and "dishonest", especially because of the end. “I'm sure the filmmakers believe their film is against the death penalty . On the other hand, I think the film endorses them and hopes to discredit opponents of the death penalty as unscrupulous fraudsters. "

“A mixture of thriller and psychological drama, structured through long flashbacks, which cleverly combines the emotional potential of the story with political and social backgrounds. Due to the pleasant dramaturgy, the film does not always escape the pitfalls of the subject . "

- Lexicon of international film

“'Be rational and don't just use your ego!' Of course, David does not remain rational in front of the camera, of course the Narcissus awakens in him, of course he talks himself in a rage and of course the governor knows exactly how to take advantage of this. The film documents, presumably without realizing it, its own failure "

- Thomas Groh : F.LM, 2003