Extracts from this document...

Introduction

In this essay I will be stating how Peter Medak, director of the film "Let Him Have It", gains sympathy from the viewer for Derek Bentley. Derek Bentley is a weird case, he is an innocent minded boy growing up in a rough society and because of the bad vibe in the part of London he lives in he gets himself caught up in a lot of trouble eventually leading to his death by hanging. The story is set in the 1950's and Derek Bentley is 19. When he was a small boy in the war he was caught in a bombing raid and was hit on the head with a falling brick. When he got a little older doctors diagnosed him with the disorder of epilepsy, in doing so the doctor also states that Derek has learning disabilities so he automatically gets sent to an approved school which has a lot of bad influences on him. This made me feel sorry for Derek because the director tried to create the sense that it wasn't Derek's fault that he got put in with the bad influences thus giving Derek an excuse for any bad behaviour. ...read more.

Middle

Medak shows this in many places in the film creating sympathy for Derek by showing that he needs to be taken care of like a kid. Somehow Derek gets himself tied up with more bad eggs, namely Chris Craig and his gang. Derek does things like steal the keys from the fish shop and give them to Chris to try and be cool and fit in with the gang. Then Chris's friends ditch him and he and Derek go to the local factory to try and rob it. They climb to the roof but someone from across the street sees them and phones the police. Derek says he does not want to do the job, gaining sympathy from the viewer by making it look like Derek was totally innocent again and did not want to be involved in this mess in the first place. After a while policemen turn up and start climbing up to the top of the roof. One of the policemen gets shot after Derek shouts those famous words, "Let Him Have It, Chris". Mayhem ensued and during it Chris returned to a safe shooting position and Derek was temporarily arrested by the policeman who had been shot. ...read more.

Conclusion

Derek does sign it himself in very childish writing and it took him almost thirty seconds to do so. With the background music and atmosphere it is a very moving scene and definitely made me feel a lot of sympathy for the poor Derek Bentley. The next day the sentence is carried out very brutally and quickly and made me feel like it didn't do Derek justice or any man justice in fact. Overall Peter Medak does a very good job of making the viewer (me) feel a lot of sympathy for Derek and his whole family. It also made me feel annoyed at such a miscarriage of justice, and also made me feel like I wished I could of gone back in time and change the overall situation and outcome. By just using a few movie tricks Peter Medak can make you feel any emotion capable to human beings. This is because he relates us with the situation I didn't feel like I was just watching Derrick I felt like I was helping him or giving him moral support. I am glad his sister carried on pursuing the case and clearing poor Derek Bentley's name. ...read more.

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our AS and A Level Films section.