David Sington: The Fear of 13
Filmen har den danske titel Manden der ville henrettes, den var med på CPH:DOX, det er godt, at DR2 Dokumania tager den op igen. Det sker i morgen aften tirsdag 7. juni 20:45. Det er en god disposition, fordi David Sington er en vigtig instruktør, han har lavet mere end 30 dokumentarer for BBC, og det er en god disposition, fordi det er en vigtig film, en konsekvent egensindig konstruktion, som fik et stort publikum på den københavnske festival til at give den prisen, men som fik The Guardian’s meget erfarne Peter Bradshaw til at afvise dens radikale fortællegreb:
“… Director David Sington effectively turns the film over to Yarris (hovedpersonen), who is allowed to narrate the documentary on-camera and control its pace, tone and content. For me, he feels like a ham actor auditioning for the role of himself in a movie version: he delivers what sounds like an overwritten, over-rehearsed monologue in a breathy-mellifluous voice. His story is important, yet the style is mannered. I wondered if it might have been better as an interview, with Sington interrupting him, questioning him, getting more perspective on his (important) story.”
Independent’s Geoffrey Macnab blev lige modsat begejstret over grebet: “…What is fascinating about Sington’s invigorating documentary is that the inmate Nick Yarris recounts his story in his own words. He is formidably articulate, an autodidact who knows how to emphasise all the urgency, suspense, drama and macabre humour in the events that led him to be condemned to die. His account is complemented by reconstructions similar to those found in Errol Morris’ The Thin Blue Line. This is virtuoso film-making only partially let down by its artifice.”
Jeg må bestemt se det filmværk i morgen aften, se modet til at konstruere uden om enhver konvention om filmfortælling. Se filmen som er gestand for en diskussion på højt niveau af en kunstnerisk problemstilling.
SYNOPSIS
After more than 20 years on death row, a convicted murderer petitions the court asking to be executed. But as he tells his story, it gradually becomes clear that nothing is quite what it seems. This film is a stylistically daring experiment in storytelling, in effect a one-man play constructed from a four-day interview. In a monologue that is part confessional and part performance, Nick, the sole protagonist, tells a tale with all the twists and turns of classic crime drama. But as the story unfolds it reveals itself as something much deeper, an emotionally powerful meditation on the redemptive power of love and literature. A final shocking twist casts everything in a new light. (BBC Storyville)
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/nov/12/the-fear-of-13-review-nick-yarris-death-row-inmate