WEST OF MEMPHIS
****
Director: Amy Berg
Principal cast:
Jason Baldwin
Damien Wayne Echols
Jessie Misskelley
Lorri Davis
Country: USA
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 147 mins.
Australian release date: 14 February 2013
Amy Berg’s documentary, West of Memphis, examines the failure of the justice system in Arkansas, USA, after three young men - Jason Baldwin, Damien Wayne Echols and Jessie Misskelley - were incarcerated for 18 years for the murder of three eight year-old boys, a crime they did not commit. The film makes for compelling viewing as the story unravels: it shows how ‘bad science drove out good science’ in the 1990s when the mishandling of evidence robbed three people of their freedom.
This is a well-constructed story driven by Damien Echols’ wife, Lorri Davis, a woman who wrote to Echols during his period of incarceration and whom he married whilst behind bars. Believing in her husband’s innocence she established a media campaign to release ‘the Memphis Three’ which was supported by the likes of Johnny Depp, Eddie Vedder and the Dixie Chicks, and attracted substantial financial help from NZ film director Peter Jackson and his business partner Fran Walsh. The collection of fresh evidence, including that of a turtle expert (this is the deep South after all!) and reassessed DNA taken from the crime scene, built up a case strong enough to convince the State Supreme Court to allow a plea agreement, the controversial Alford Plea.
Interviews with some of the celebrities involved and others, including judges, lawyers, journalists, family members (who present some of the most interesting, and scary, moments), witnesses and activists, move the story along at a rapid pace. While there are a few red herrings along the way, at no time are you left in any doubt as to the trio’s innocence once the evidence is freshly appraised.
Using a mix of archival and new footage, Berg takes the viewer on a long journey but one that doesn’t have a satisfying resolution. Why? Well, you must see this for yourself and make up your own mind but, suffice to say, the grimmest part is the fact the three aren’t equivocally pardoned and the guilty still walk free - it remains to be seen whether there will ever be a resolution to the murders. And one can’t help but sympathise with Echols and Davis, who fled to NYC after his release; after all, why would you hang about in Arkansas if the Memphis Three’s story is representative of the state of justice there?
Principal cast:
Jason Baldwin
Damien Wayne Echols
Jessie Misskelley
Lorri Davis
Country: USA
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 147 mins.
Australian release date: 14 February 2013
Amy Berg’s documentary, West of Memphis, examines the failure of the justice system in Arkansas, USA, after three young men - Jason Baldwin, Damien Wayne Echols and Jessie Misskelley - were incarcerated for 18 years for the murder of three eight year-old boys, a crime they did not commit. The film makes for compelling viewing as the story unravels: it shows how ‘bad science drove out good science’ in the 1990s when the mishandling of evidence robbed three people of their freedom.
This is a well-constructed story driven by Damien Echols’ wife, Lorri Davis, a woman who wrote to Echols during his period of incarceration and whom he married whilst behind bars. Believing in her husband’s innocence she established a media campaign to release ‘the Memphis Three’ which was supported by the likes of Johnny Depp, Eddie Vedder and the Dixie Chicks, and attracted substantial financial help from NZ film director Peter Jackson and his business partner Fran Walsh. The collection of fresh evidence, including that of a turtle expert (this is the deep South after all!) and reassessed DNA taken from the crime scene, built up a case strong enough to convince the State Supreme Court to allow a plea agreement, the controversial Alford Plea.
Interviews with some of the celebrities involved and others, including judges, lawyers, journalists, family members (who present some of the most interesting, and scary, moments), witnesses and activists, move the story along at a rapid pace. While there are a few red herrings along the way, at no time are you left in any doubt as to the trio’s innocence once the evidence is freshly appraised.
Using a mix of archival and new footage, Berg takes the viewer on a long journey but one that doesn’t have a satisfying resolution. Why? Well, you must see this for yourself and make up your own mind but, suffice to say, the grimmest part is the fact the three aren’t equivocally pardoned and the guilty still walk free - it remains to be seen whether there will ever be a resolution to the murders. And one can’t help but sympathise with Echols and Davis, who fled to NYC after his release; after all, why would you hang about in Arkansas if the Memphis Three’s story is representative of the state of justice there?