Conspiracy of silence
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Conspiracy of silence |
| Original title | Conspiracy of Silence |
| Country of production | Canada |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1991 |
| length | 240 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Francis Mankiewicz |
| script |
Suzette Couture Lisa Priest |
| production | Bernard Zukerman |
| music | Yves Laferrière |
| camera | Glen MacPherson |
| cut | Ralph Brunjes |
| occupation | |
| |
Conspiracy of Silence (Original title: Conspiracy of Silence ) is a Canadian mini-series directed by Francis Mankiewicz from 1991 with Michael Mahonen and Ian Tracey in the lead roles. The film is based on the book of the same name by Lisa Priest about the actual murder of Helen Betty Osborne .
action
In November 1971 , an Indian girl named Helen Betty Osborne was brutally murdered with a screwdriver in the Canadian provincial town of The Pas , Manitoba . The police, led by Mike Hall, are trying to investigate the perpetrators and get stuck, although everyone knows the perpetrators, four young white men named Lee Colgan, Dwayne Johnston, Jim Houghteon and Norm Manger. Only an anonymous tip from a female teenager who knows the perpetrators leads them to the perpetrators, but as before they are covered for years by the silence of the citizens and helped accordingly, so that the case is not continued and it is written accordingly that it is only in the first place then re-opens when there is more evidence or testimony.
It wasn't until 16 years later that another police officer, Steve Frishbilski, began to take an interest in the case again when he was mentioned by Indian organizations who saw the murder of Betty Osborne as a symbol of the injustices they were suffering in the country and who later explained it to him when he inquires about the matter. Based on her testimony, which he enters as the testimony of experts in the case, he opens the case again and then begins quite consistently in the case with your help from the correct assumption that racism and misogyny are related to this crime and to the subsequent obfuscation. He finds the anonymous witness who agrees to testify. But it is not enough for a final breakthrough in the case because of the still prevailing racism.
He finally made his breakthrough as a half-Indian who knew the perpetrators and the citizens and who did not tell them that she was half-Indian, testified. So Lee Colgan, one of the perpetrators they know is haunted by this crime , is arrested. To get it over with, he decides to testify against immunity in court. He tells how they kidnapped the Indian girl, how they planned to rape her because she was an Indian girl and they acted on the assumption that they had the right to do what she then threatened the police about and how Dwayne Johnston, in response, brutally murdered her with a screwdriver that was in the car while he and the others let it.
Only Dwayne Johnston is convicted. He is given life imprisonment while the others are acquitted. In the process, the complicit silence of many citizens regarding this crime comes to light, but since it is only hearsay according to the law , they are not punished and at most confronted with a hellish press, which is indignant about this behavior. Only a civil servant who could be shown to have known about it from the start, but had done nothing in that direction, was dismissed from civil service. Helen's mother, on the other hand, is inwardly devastated because of the events. The case is then closed.
criticism
"TV film based on a true story."
Awards
This miniseries won the Gemini Prize in seven categories and was nominated for another category.
Web links
- Conspiracy of silence in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Conspiracy of silence in the online film database
Individual evidence
- ↑ Conspiracy of Silence Film Service . Retrieved March 23, 2018.