The background of this film goes far beyond a racial drama on the stage of a dusty city in the southern United States during the depression era, it is its title that indicates the true meaning of this work, the cruelty and nonsense of killing creatures, innocent and harmless that do no harm to anyone, in this case under the figures of Boo, a feared character in the imagination of children and Tom, a black man unjustly accused of having committed a crime.
Directed by Robert Mulligan and based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Harper Lee. It is a film told through the eyes of a girl Jean Louise Finch, Scout, who remembers a time of her childhood in Alabama. The work evokes both mystery and magic, memory and loss, of a time that we believe is unrepeatable, childhood. It begins with the image of an old cigarette box that hides a small treasure that children keep and that in the end From the film it is seen that they are linked to Boo, a young man who has grown up but is irremediably anchored in childhood and who, being taken by the ogre of the small town, will end up being his giant guardian angel.
The children's father, Atticus Fitch, the central character of the play, a man who radiates integrity and honesty and who tries to instill these values in his children, with his wise advice, such as when his son gave him a shotgun and knowing that Despite his recommendations, he would end up being tempted to shoot the birds, he severely forbade him to do so against the nightingale because it is a sin to kill a bird that "does nothing but gladden the heart, singing to our delight"
"I'd rather you shoot the cans in the backyard, but I know you'll be going after the birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can shoot them, but remember it's a sin to kill a nightingale."
and ask Miss Maudie about it. "Your father is right," he said. “Nightingales do nothing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat people's gardens, they don't nest in scribes, they do nothing but sing to us with their hearts. That is why it is a sin to kill a nightingale."
Scout uses this same metaphor to refer to the man-child who has saved her and her brother's lives, telling Atticus that she understands why they don't put Boo on trial. Atticus looked like he needed to cheer up. I ran to him, hugged him and kissed him with all my might. "Yes sir, I understand," I assured him. "Mr. Tate was right ». Atticus let go and looked at me. "What do you mean?" "Well, it would be like shooting a nightingale, wouldn't it?"
