Murder in the First (1995)

There are stories where one person’s trial spreads into an indictment of an entire institution. This film is exactly that. Seated in the defendant’s chair is a single prisoner who committed murder, but what the film truly puts on trial is the prison that made him so. Set against the infamous Alcatraz, the story begins as a rookie lawyer dives into a seemingly hopeless case.

What it’s about — A courtroom that put the prison, not the prisoner, on trial

Henry Young (Kevin Bacon), imprisoned in Alcatraz during the Great Depression for stealing a few dollars to feed his starving sister, fails in an escape attempt and then spends more than three years in a lightless solitary cell. Right after being released from that inhumane isolation, he murders a fellow inmate he believes informed on him. The case seems clear-cut, but James Stamphill (Christian Slater), the young court-appointed lawyer, poses a different question: who bears responsibility for turning a human being into a beast? He decides to put on trial not Henry the individual but the prison system that broke him.

Direction — Contrasting the darkness of the cell with the light of the courtroom

Marc Rocco’s direction draws its strength from contrasting two spaces. One is a dark, damp solitary cell without a single ray of light; the other is a bright courtroom where justice is contested. When the film moves from showing the underground darkness where Henry was confined to the light of the courtroom, the audience intuits, through that gap alone, what broke a human being. The scenes depicting the violence and abuse inside the prison are by no means light, and through that pain the film stacks up its anger piece by piece.

Its construction as a courtroom drama is also solid. The second half, where witness examinations and arguments unfold, never loses tension, and the process of a rookie lawyer standing against the vast prosecution and prison authorities is depicted head-on. That said, since it’s known to be based on a true story, debate over some dramatic embellishment tags along. Even so, the film’s attitude of questioning the institution’s cruelty through one individual stays consistent throughout.

Performance — Bacon embodying a broken human being

Kevin Bacon’s performance is the heart of this film. He wretchedly portrays Henry, whose mind and body have broken together from long solitary confinement, with trembling hands and unfocused eyes. His performance, which shows with his body how far a human being can break, creates a greater resonance from silence and small spasms than from dialogue. It’s a face that won’t leave you for a long time after you’ve seen it.

Christian Slater convincingly plays a young lawyer burning with a sense of justice yet still inexperienced, his figure a mix of zeal and fear. Gary Oldman adds a chilling menace as the deputy warden who holds the prison’s power, and supporting players including William H. Macy firmly bear the weight of the courtroom.

What the film says — What is punishment for?

The true defendant of this film is not Henry Young but the system that made him. While tracing how isolation and abuse turn a human being into a murderer, the film re-questions the very meaning of punishment. Is the purpose to confine the one who committed a crime, or to trample him into something less than human? The fact that Henry’s first crime was petty theft to feed his sister also reflects a society harsh only toward the poor. In that it poses, through one person’s tragedy, a question that shakes the foundations of the penal system, this work goes beyond a simple courtroom drama.

Ratings and reception

The IMDb rating is 7.3 out of 10. The Rotten Tomatoes freshness is 56 percent, with critical opinion somewhat split, mainly over the exaggeration in adapting a true story. But on Kevin Bacon’s performance the evaluation was consistently high, and many count it among the finest in his career.

Verdict

Despite some embellishment of the story, the anger and compassion this film conveys are real. Above all, the portrait of a broken human being crafted by Kevin Bacon is worth watching in itself. As a courtroom drama that weightily indicts the cruelty of an institution, a ★4.0 rating is not too much.

Recommended for

• Those who like weighty courtroom dramas and social-indictment films
• Those who want to see Kevin Bacon’s intense performance
• Those looking for a story that makes you chew over the meaning of punishment and institutions