Masterpiece Theater: The Murder of Stephen Lawrence (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is actually a true story. Stephen Lawrence was a young Black man about to enter the prime of his life when he was murdered on the night of 22nd April 1993 in London. His death made the local television radio and the very news next day. It made the national press on the morning of 24th April 2003, but for most part it was hidden on the inside pages, some murders don't get the coverage they should. In the beginning the murder was one such case.
And that might have been that. After all Stephen Lawrence was not a white person, he certainly was not blonde or for that matter female. Yet the story did not and would not go away.
Watching this film is not easy an easy experience because from the very beginning you are a frustrated witness to a catalogue of obvious errors combined with blatant racism, ignorance and incredible stupidity from the British Police Force, not to mention the press' initial indifference to the story on the whole.
But when Nelson Mandela gave the Lawrence family his support, suddenly everyone wanted to know how and why Stephen died.
This film systematically chronicles all the important events from Stephen's murder up until the results of the Enquiry in1999.
Stephen's murderers have never been tried, the one attempt to get them into court failed, and it failed because the police did not do their job properly in the first place.
Everyone knew who killed Stephen, the police did, local people did, Stephen's parents did but proper justice was ultimately denied the Lawrence family and all they got out of his death was an Enquiry that told them what they already knew. The Metropolitan Police was institutionally racist.
There is nothing sentimental about this film; it is hard to watch because you are acutely aware that it is based entirely on facts even though actors and actresses are playing all the main parts.
Marianne Jean-Baptiste of "Secret and Lies" and "28 Days" plays the indomitable Mrs Lawrence, with surprising skill whilst Leon Black gives a fine performance as the doomed Stephen, destined to die before his time.
This in my opinion is a film that should be watched by every school child in the United Kingdom and by every adult who is under the misguided impression that they are basically tolerant and good. Only when you watch this film will you realise that you are the sum of all your own prejudices and fears, and that justice just might have a colour all of its very own...

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