CLEMENCY — A PRECISION-TOOLED TRIUMPH OF A FILM
Alfre Woodard is outstanding in this harrowing character study of a workaholic administering death to condemned men
THERE’S something you need to know about Bernadine Williams (Alfre Woodard). The Death Row prison warden at the centre of this prize-winning drama gets foxy when drunk. One night, after hanging out with her charming deputy Thomas (Richard Gunn), Bernadine weaves towards her car and, waggling her car keys, declares she’s safe to drive. Thomas says: “You give me those keys or I’m gonna start dancing!” With a radiantly flirtatious smile, Bernadine throws him the keys. It’s a moment to savour: she never looks that happy again.
Clemency is one of those deliberately harrowing movies that leaves you feeling elated. The very precision of the film-making gives you a sense of hope. The plot is simple yet subtle.
Early on, Bernadine oversees a botched execution. The camera sits tight on her rapt face. She could be an insect-loving kid watching her best friend torture flies. After that, she makes plans for the last hours of inmate Anthony Woods (Aldis Hodge; masterful). He’s a convicted “cop killer”, who’s been claiming for years that he’s innocent. His lawyer Marty (Richard Schiff ) wants Bernadine to stick up for Woods. The heartbroken parents of the dead cop beg for assurances that the execution will go ahead.
Bernadine’s husband Jonathan (Wendell Pierce) can tell his wife is unravelling. She can’t sleep at night, though her appearance remains immaculate. For a crucial encounter with Woods, she wears a silky white top that looks as if it was dry-cleaned in heaven.
Writer/director Chinonye Chukwu has taken several related issues (is it right to execute felons/does organising executions cause PTSD?) and transformed them into a unique character study. Bernadine, a workaholic, is obsessed with her brilliant career. Childless by choice, she has
asked her husband to make “sacrifices”. And, as already mentioned, she is partial to “libations” (her word) and might have had an affair, or considered having one, with Thomas.
It would have been easy to make Bernadine more — quote unquote — likeable. To have her hug a kitten, say, or reveal a past tragedy that explains her drive. But no apologies are made for her life choices and she’s certainly never judged. Which is surely because it’s our eagerness to judge others that Chukwu, 35, wants to understand.
Chukwu is a fan of Maya Angelou. How fitting that Angelou, in the one film she ever directed (Down in the Delta), put Woodard centre stage. Chukwu, like Angelou, knows Woodard deserves the spotlight. The 67-year-old actress, always outstanding, just keeps improving with age.
A few moments jar. Jonathan, though nicely played by Pierce, feels like a type. A wise professor of literature, he’s even more perfect than the perfect husband in Killing Eve, and his lines can be downright purple. He tells Bernadine: “I think you want to be whole ... You don’t want to live in fragments.” Put it in a poem, Jon!
Such florid touches, thank goodness, are rare. Chukwa and her gifted team have made a fine film, one that’s easy to forgive and impossible to forget.
Curzon Home Cinema or bohemiamedia.co.uk/clemency, which will donate half of the revenue to a participating cinema, charity or film collective of your choice
It would have been easy to make Bernadine more likeable. To have her hug a kitten, say, or reveal a past tragedy