Dead man walking

'Dead man walking' , directed by Tim Robbins with Susan Sarandon playing the real life Sister who agrees to be the spirital guide to the condemmed man, played by Sean Penn, is superb. Both are excellent actors and both led me to tears by the end of the film. That doesn't happen that often. The film deals with capital punishment issues, the way the victims' families feel, the way the condemmed person feels and is based on a real situation where some characters have been drawn from several people, but the single most powerful figure is Sister Helen.

Inspired by the true story of a nun's relationship with a condemned man, this examination of crime, punishment and redemption earned Susan Sarandon the 1995 Oscar for Best Actress and Sean Penn an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Dead Man Walking is a "fast-moving and absorbing" film filled with "genuine suspense" Sister Helen Prejean (Sarandon), a compassionate New Orleans nun, is the spiritual advisor to Matthew Poncelet (Penn), a vicious, angry and complex murderer awaiting execution. Her dedication is to help others, like Matthew, find salvation. But as she attempts to navigate Matthew's dark soul, she encounters a depth of evil that makes her question how far redemption can really go. Can she stave off the fateful day of execution long enough to save Matthew, or will she discover a truth that will rock the very foundation by which she lives her life?

By 1977, just 16 countries had abolished the death penalty for all crimes. By 1988, 35 countries had done so and another 18 had abolished the death penalty for all but exceptional crimes like treason, and 27 more were considered abolitionist in practice because they had not carried out an execution in over 10 years. As of the end of 2009, 139 countries were abolitionist in law or practice.
Source: Amnesty international

Countries which have the death penalty
* Afghanistan
* Antigua and Barbuda
* Bahamas
* Bahrain
* Bangladesh
* Barbados
* Belarus
* Belize
* Botswana
* Burundi
* Cameroon
* Chad
* China (People's Republic)
* Comoros
* Congo (Democratic Republic)
* Cuba
* Dominica
* Egypt
* Equatorial Guinea
* Eritrea
* Ethiopia
* Gabon
* Ghana
* Guatemala
* Guinea
* Guyana
* India
* Indonesia
* Iran
* Iraq
* Jamaica
* Japan
* Jordan
* Korea, North
* Korea, South
* Kuwait

* Laos
* Lebanon
* Lesotho
* Libya
* Malawi
* Malaysia
* Mongolia
* Nigeria
* Oman
* Pakistan
* Palestinian Authority
* Qatar
* St. Kitts and Nevis
* St. Lucia
* St. Vincent and the Grenadines
* Saudi Arabia
* Sierra Leone
* Singapore
* Somalia
* Sudan
* Swaziland
* Syria
* Taiwan
* Tajikistan
* Tanzania
* Thailand
* Trinidad and Tobago
* Uganda
* United Arab Emirates
* United States
* Vietnam
* Yemen
* Zambia
* Zimbabwe
Source: Infoplease

Photo: publicinsomniac