The Life of David Gale. What do we think about the death penalty?
Can we arrogate the right to decide when someone should die?
David Gale (Kevin Spacey) is on death row.
He raped and killed his best friend.
But did he really do it?
Gale has never given interviews or explained the reasons for his actions.
He decides to do so just a few days before the execution.
At his request, the interview will be conducted by the young journalist Bitsey Bloom (Kate Winslet) and an intern. They will travel to Huntsville, Texas, where Gale is imprisoned.
The interview will take place over three days, it cannot be recorded, and Gale will decide what can be included in the article and what cannot.
First day
Gale begins to recount his story with a wealth of details, showing the events through a series of rich flashbacks.
Starting as a respected and irreproachable philosophy professor at the University of Texas at Austin, he fights alongside his friend Constance Harraway for the abolition of the death penalty, highlighting his active role as a member of Death Watch, a group campaigning against capital punishment.
At a university party, Gale is cleverly seduced by an attractive student named Berlin, who has just been expelled from school.
The girl takes advantage of her charm and the effects of alcohol to involve him in a wild act of sex, inviting him to be brutal and almost violent.
Second day
The next day, after losing a televised debate with the Governor of Texas, Gale is charged and arrested on accusations of rape.
Thus begins a series of events that will lead the professor to a severe psychological breakdown and alcoholism.
His wife, often away on business trips to Barcelona and emotionally distant for a long time, pays his bail only after leaving him in jail for several days.
She asks for a divorce via email.
She will permanently move to Spain, taking with her the young son to whom Gale is deeply attached.
The university will drastically invite him to leave his position, further contributing to the end of his career and reputation. Finally, he is indirectly encouraged to distance himself from Death Watch activism as well.
David’s life is over.
Third day
Constance is now the only friend David has left. After a period of deep existential depression, she encourages him to quit drinking and find a new job.
However, it is discovered that his friend is suffering from terminal-stage leukemia, and in a moment of reflection and deep despair, the two give in to a night of love.
The next day, the woman is found dead on the floor of her home, tied up and raped, and Gale is arrested and sentenced to death.
In addition to suffocation by a plastic bag, the autopsy also reveals the ingestion of the handcuff keys with which she had been tied—possibly (but not proven) a torture technique used by Ceaușescu’s communist regime, mentioned by Gale during a university lecture.
I stop here
I have partially recounted the plot of this wonderful film, which passed unnoticed despite the absolutely perfect cast, the heartbreaking music, and the final twist.
I stop because this is one of those films capable of shaking your soul, of hurting you.
Hurting you so much that you suffer at least as much as the protagonist in the final part.
One of those films that deserved mountains of Oscars and praise.
At the time of its release, some said that it actually encouraged the death penalty.
Those who think that were simply unable to grasp its meaning.
This film screams for the right to life.
This film screams at the top of its lungs for the right to justice, for everyone.
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