Dead Man Walking is a moving film and given the technical difficulties that Tim Robbins was forced to deal with, I think it is even a greater testament to Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn's acting. When I talk of technical difficulties I'm revering to the static shot selection that was dictated by Penn's incarceration and the resulting reliance on Penn and Sarandon being shot with pexi-glass or prison bars as barriers between the two. Robbin's austere approach stylistically was especially appropriate during Penn's final walk to the execution room. The conspicuous "absence" of emotion swelling music during Penn and Sarandon's final good-bye indicated that Robbins was'nt going to take the easy way out. Given Robbin's leftist politics and any resulting expectations based on that, Dead Man Walking is even-handed and lacking a zealous diatribe quality that could have potentially compromised the film, but one shot in the film continues to disturb me. During the scene of Penn's death we have a montage sequence that cuts back to a flash-back to the victims that Penn killed laying in the field where they were left to be discovered. The main thrust of the scene as a whole reinforced the tragic consequences of all the victims -be it a victim of random violence or state-sanctioned, but during the end of this sequence we see Penn's victims reflected/superimposed on the window in the execution room. Both victims are attired in formal ware and are suppose to convey some type of spectral presence. This shot was particularly jarring and seemed to under-cut the film as a whole. It seemed cheap and implied a self-righteousness that the film lacked as whole. It almost appeared as if Robbin's was making an apologist gesture in light of the focus on Penn's character. Maybe, this seems like nit-picking but given the tightness and lack of gratuitous cliches in the film as a whole, the "ghost" shot does serious damage to the integrity of the film - even if only aesthetically. How does anyone else feel? Christian Doellner ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]