Gregory Peck’s performance as the white lawyer determined to defend a young black man is perhaps the best of his career. I adore Harper Lee’s original novel, and read it many years before seeing the film. When I first watched it I was amazed how close his interpretation of Atticus Finch, the brave father of two who firmly believes in justice and decency, was to my own idea of how the character would look, sound and behave. Peck achieves a level of perfection many high profileactors never even come close to.
Universal’s high definition 1080p transfer, which preserves the film’s original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, is stunning. Clarity is crisp and clear with a perfect balance of film grain.
Once in a while, a film adaptation manages to match the strength, beauty and voice of the original source material. To Kill a Mockingbird is such a film, and Universal’s superb new release of it is one of the home entertainment highlights of the year.
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), directed by Robert Mulligan, is distributed on blu-ray disc and DVD in the UK by Universal Pictures, Certificate 12.
This is an edited reproduction of a Film Comment piece published in May 2012.
