For Robbing the Dead is a story of compassion - compassion toward those who may seem the least deserving of Christian lo | dG1fWGFHWmNfZUtnWjg
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00:00I think Redemption is a different film, and that's always a risk to say.
00:08I think it asks a question of anybody, from whatever faith, whatever background they may be,
00:14that they can watch this and say, oh, that presents a very basic human question,
00:21and then asks them what they would do in a similar circumstance.
00:25The story's about a man who is caught and accused and guilty of robbing 300 graves.
00:32I assure you, Mr. Clausen, that your brother was buried in a very fine suit, generously provided by Officer Heath.
00:39Well, that wasn't what he was wearing when we dug him up.
00:46I'm afraid things are not going to go well for you, Mr. Baptiste.
00:51As part of his punishment, he is disfigured, he is exiled,
00:55and it's left to a sheriff who has great reason to hate this guy
01:00to be the one person who provides some form of sustenance.
01:05This man ought to be left to his own self out there.
01:08If you want any friends, you'll get that ghoul's shot.
01:13You've got to know a lot of folks around here aren't going to appreciate anybody who gives assistance to that man.
01:18They hate him.
01:21You ain't caring for that ghoul in the lake now, are you?
01:25I think that this region is open to those sorts of stories that elevate the human heart
01:31or ask questions that we all grapple with.
01:34I think that it's something an entire family can see and discuss and say,
01:37what did you take from this?
01:39The way this guy behaved, the way the community behaved toward him,
01:42and what would you do in the same circumstance?
01:45We had some terrific performers in the film,
01:49and one thing that was consistent across all of them,
01:52they all read the script and they all found something in it that they strongly believed in.
01:57Barry Corbin, whose first take on one of the most difficult speeches in the film,
02:02took my breath away.
02:04John Grice, he's funny, so he gets a lot of comedy because he is funny.
02:10He has impeccable timing, great ideas, a little misfire, totally John Grice.
02:20Damn, piece of garbage.
02:24Margie, who has been through her own set of life challenges
02:28and emerged so triumphantly in it,
02:31but she added a depth and humanity to Marlis
02:35that then strengthens our compassion for Jean Baptiste, for John Freeman.
02:39When John Freeman started interacting with her,
02:42John Freeman, who is a relationship actor, he has somebody there,
02:45and once that person is there, he focuses on that relationship,
02:49and he becomes Henry, David Stevens,
02:53who's from another world of brilliance in my mind.
02:57He's so remarkably focused and so utterly committed,
03:01and David is method,
03:04and he doesn't separate himself from those anxieties and those concerns,
03:08which is why his performance is so magnificent,
03:13why he's so good.
03:15To approach John Baptiste, it was really...
03:19Yeah, he's a complex character,
03:21but I personally had to play him a simple man, you know?
03:25A simple man who both justified what he did to a certain degree,
03:30knowing it was wrong, and that he just loved his wife
03:33and loved his job, as odd as it was,
03:36and just wanted to get by.
03:40You have, among that group of actors,
03:43people who believed in what we were saying
03:47to the point that they took less money than they deserve
03:51to be in the movie and contribute to that statement,
03:55which I hope is very, very positive.