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In 2004, Cameron Todd Willingham was executed for setting a fire that killed his three kids in 1991. In “Trial by Fire” published ten years ago, Grann attempts to uncover the poorly conducted investigation, the appeals, his lack of confession, alongside the trial that was shoved down his throat. The very article had my blood simmering. Grann’s documentary is released alongside Zwick’s film, Trial by Fire, which is a scathing denunciation on the issue. Jack O’Connell plays Cameron while Laura Dern plays Gilbert who becomes an obsessioning fan of Cameron’s work. Unlike his book, Edward Zwick’s direction of the film is more methodical, and therefore behaviorally predictable. Even though the film has a couple poorly done narrative devices, the overall content of the film made my blood boil, so it deserves some credit.
Starting off, it is apparent that there was something not right about Willingham’s trial. Willingham was well known around Corsicana, Texas as a drinker and a wife beater who married Stacy (played here by Emily Meade). The investigation into the arson of their house seems deeply flawed. It is as though arson is the singular explanation, witnesses during the trial inexplicably altered their accounts proving this point. To Willingham’s neighbors, it must have seemed like he was trying to break back into the house by force. The neighbor who bore witness claimed that he didn’t appear to be famished, but rather worried about his vehicle. (Yes, Willingham later did say, that he moved his car a safe distance from the house so that it did not blow up). The prosecutor took an exaggerated stance about Willingham being a heavy metal fan, and its possible links to devil worship (reminiscent of the West Memphis Three). Unfortunately, Willingham does not have sufficient funds required to hire a professional attorney. As a result, his defense is lackluster and his complaints fall of deaf ears as he is fenced away in the courtroom. He gets convicted and receives the death penalty.
Willingham never set the house on fire. Even without reading Grann’s article, it is easy to figure this out.
And as it is clear, these episodes are devoid of tension, although irritating. This incredibly enraging mix ‘Trial by Fire’ is comprised of lacks of tension along with a steady level of injustice.
To create accessing to elusive viewpoints, we need to create entries that are compelling from first reading so as to develop interest to categories that may not be familiar to the person. The first entry of this paragraph is quite intriguing as well. For beginners, surely every attempt is outwardly with a lot of passion, but inside there is some passion that is being channelled. In this case, we are looking to delve into the already existing articles that speak on the topic. We would examine how different media covers the topic in a way that engages all readers regardless of their age.
Gilbert’s world is one Zwick is more acquainted with than Willingham’s world, and this is a concern, especially since Zwick and his colleague Geoffrey Fletcher, the screenwriter, followed the timeline that Grann outlined in his New Yorker article. Zwick has firsthand knowledge of Gilbert’s world, and that’s how it is, the film adjusting to the dimensions of gebi gossips, rushing cuisine, and parental anxiety. Most of the flashbacks to Willingham’s history are the contrary of lived in, and a lot of imagination and sabzy yelling phrases like, “Do you believe you are able to roam all night and come back and charm me?” For all its understanding, “Trial by fire” is completely out of the world experience of millions of people living under extreme poverty.
Laura Dern’s authenticity shines throughout each of her projects, and she accomplishes that here as well. She brings out the rage and despair the film has to offer. Gilbert starts digging into Willingham’s trial and the first thing she uncovers are injuries on the trial documents. She even tracks down stay Dr. Gerald Hurst, a renowned fire investigator and begs him to examine the evidence and give his opinion. (Grann’s article is very good in explaining how arson investigations can be botched by incorrect assumptions about how fire operates.) The eccentric Dr. Hurst is played Jeff Perry, a wonderful actor (and an original co-founder of Steppenwolf Theatre). In a great stand-alone scene, Hurst takes one look at the evidence in the crime scene photographs and immediately sees that the fire wasn’t arson; in fact, it was probably caused by a faulty space heater.
Zwick and Fletcher decided to add some “flourishes,” which were completely ineffective, such as the ghost of one of Willingham’s daughters visiting him in prison and sitting on his bump while they chat.
This gadget has been seen before, for example, in Zwick’s “thirtysomething” which he co-created with Marshall Herskovitz, who edited the show in a way that blended ordinary storytelling with excessive imagination, allowing the audience to feel what the characters are feeling. But here, it feels a bit clumsy and forced. Equally awkward is Willingham’s developing friendship with one of the prison guards, a man who was not very fond of him in the beginning. These choices in “Trial by Fire” are so sentimental and unnecessary that it is perplexing, considering how much anger the film portrays.
“Trial by Fire” is an odd combination, but to me, it is a very angry film. This enraged movie essay (which includes the then governor Rick Perry endorsing the death penalty in Texas) is blended with normal thrilling fiction which depicts a mother who digs herself deeper into the case at hand and ignores her teenage children. Dern’s intensity in the film is simply mesmerizing. He keeps you wondering why this story is not told from her perspective. Only in her face, in all its passionate sincerity, do you feel the literally incendiary nature of the injustice taking place.
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