Sunday, March 30, 2008

Capital Punishment: Just or Unjust?

The film, "A Short film about Killing" by Krzysztof Kieslowski challenges the issue of capital punishment everywhere. Throughout the film we become personally connected with the killer Jacek and the taxi driver who is later murdered. The entire film we are lead to believe none of this. We could have suspected that the taxi driver was going to kill someone and that Jacek was going to be the one getting murdered. By the end of the film it really does not matter because both are dead. The point I'm getting at is not one of capital punishment, but of what is right and wrong. I think Kieslowski gets this point across diligently. The scene exemplifying this comes to us in the jail cell moments before Jacek's execution. Jacek who obviously loved his sister very much hints to the lawyer that he was at fault for her death. This is very troubling for us as an audience. We become attached in a way to Jacek and almost forget about what terrible crime he has committed. This allows us to forgive him for we realize he too has feelings and a life. Life is very precious and at that moment our emotions collide with what is right and wrong. We then realize at that moment how absurd the death penalty really is.

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