Product Description
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Heavens Fall
“Heavens Fall” is a gripping true story that begins in the spring
of 1931 when nine black men are hauled off an Alabama freight
train and accused of raping two young white women. The men are
quickly tried and sentenced to the electric chair. News of their
conviction spreads, forcing an appeal to the United States
Supreme Court. New York attorney Sam Leibowitz (Timothy Hutton)
travels to Alabama in 1933 during segregation to defend the nine
young men - setting in motion an epic legal battle that
ultimately changed the course of American jurisprudence.
Winner of the “Best Feature Film” Award at the Hollywood Film
Festival and an official selection of SXSW, “Heavens Fall”
features knockout performances from Timothy Hutton (“Kinsey”),
Anthony Mackie (“The Hurt Locker”), Leelee Sobieski (“Eyes Wide
Shut”) and David Strathairn (“Good Night, and Good Luck”).
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One of the most shameful chapters in America's ugly
racial history is dramatized in writer-director Terry Green's
Heavens Fall, an account of Alabama's infamous "Scottsboro Boys"
trials in the 1930s. As the film opens (in '33), nine young black
men have already been convicted and sentenced to death for the
rape of two white girls, based almost entirely on the girls'
dubious testimony. When an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court
results in a new trial, New York defense lawyer Sam Leibowitz
(Timothy Hutton, sporting a thick NY accent) agrees to represent
the boys. While he's an unqualified success on his own turf,
having never lost a capital case, Leibowitz faces enormous, if
not insurable, odds once he arrives in Alabama. Not only is
he a Northerner among Southerners and a liberal Jew among
conservative Christians; the bigger issue, of course, is the
South's culture of racism, an ethos so endemic, so matter of
fact, that it's almost banal. As the trial of defendant Haywood
Patterson proceeds, it's pretty obvious how it will turn out;
despite the transparent perjury of accuser Victoria Price (an
effectively nasty Leelee Sobieski), the recanting of the
testimony of the other "victim," Ruby Bates (Azura Skye), and
Leibowitz's skillful dismantling of the prosecution's case (not
to mention the almost total lack of actual incriminating
evidence), another conviction is as inevitable as the sunrise.
Still, there is some occasional shading here amidst all the black
and white extremes: the presiding judge, James Horton (a low-key
David Strathairn), appears to have a conscience, as does
Leibowitz's court adversary, Alabama Attorney General Thomas
Knight, Jr. (Bill Sage), who knows his case is weak but is
hamstrung by the region's racist "traditions." As it happened,
the trial depicted in Heavens Fall (the title comes from the
saying "Let justice be done, though the heavens may fall") wasn't
the last for the Scottsboro Boys. But this movie, with its period
feel enhanced by its excellent cinematography (by Paul Sanchez),
costumes, sets, and bluesy musical score (by Tony Llorens), is a
compelling slice of a very big but not very tasty pie. Bonus
features include two mini-documentaries, one a standard "making
of" and the other depicting the filmmakers' struggle to withstand
the onslaught of Hurricane Ivan while filming on location in
2004. --Sam Graham
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Review
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Timothy Hutton, as always, is exceptional... --GreenCine
Daily
It s a story worthy of attention... well-acted --eFilmCritic.com
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