The jury (film)

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Movie
German title The jury
Original title A time to kill
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1996
length 143 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Joel Schumacher
script Akiva Goldsman
production John Grisham
Hunt Lowry
Arnon Milchan
Michael G. Nathanson , New Regency
music Elliot Goldenthal
camera Peter Menzies Jr.
cut William Steinkamp
occupation

The jury (original title: A Time to Kill ) is an American justice thriller from 1996. The plot is based on the novel The Jury by John Grisham from 1989. The main roles are played by Matthew McConaughey , Sandra Bullock and Samuel L. Jackson .

action

Two drunken southern white men rape ten-year-old black girl Tonya Hailey in Canton , Mississippi . Then they try to kill the girl, but fail. As a result of the rape, the girl is no longer able to bear children. Believing that the criminals would not be punished harshly enough for their deeds because their white skin would favor them, the girl's father, Carl Lee Hailey, kills the men in the courthouse with an M16 assault rifle on their way to trial . During the shootout, he accidentally hits the police officer accompanying Dwayne Powell Looney in the leg, which then has to be amputated. Carl Lee is charged with the murder of the two men; in the worst case, he faces the death penalty .

The local young lawyer Jake Tyler Brigance takes on the defense of Carl Lee, also because he feels complicit in what happened, because Carl Lee indirectly announced the crime to him the night before. Law student Ellen Roark helps him with the case, but at first he is reluctant to accept it. Jake's former mentor, Lucien Wilbanks, who has lost his license and is addicted to alcohol, and attorney Harry Rex Vonner support him. The Ku Klux Klan tries to intimidate Jake, his family and colleagues because he is defending a black man. Among other things, Ellen is mistreated by the clan and Jake's house is burned down. In spite of all this, Jake does not give up the case, not even when he is offered a very high severance payment by representatives of a black human rights organization so that it would not be him but a more experienced lawyer to take over the case.

The closing arguments will be held on the last day of the hearing. Jake announces that he will not deliver his well-prepared, elaborate plea and will instead tell a story, with the request that the jury present - who are all white and have agreed on a unanimous guilty verdict before the end of the trial - take part may close your eyes to clearly imagine the following. Jake describes the crime against Tonya Hailey in minute detail and closes the description with the sentence: "Now imagine that she (the girl) is white!" Everyone opens their eyes, as if awakened from a nightmare. Carl Lee is acquitted and Attorney Rufus Buckley congratulates Jake. Meanwhile, several of the Ku Klux Klan members are arrested for their crimes.

At the end, Carl Lee and family and friends have a party at his house, at which Jake and his wife and daughter also appear surprisingly so that the "daughters can play together" to demonstrate to Carl Lee that the difference between their worlds no longer exists so may exist.

Reviews

James Berardinelli wrote on ReelViews that the underlying novel was, according to the author, his most personal novel. Grisham was given extensive control over the filming, which benefits the film. Berardinelli wrote that the direction was well done and that the film was mostly entertaining. He also praised Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson and numerous supporting actors such as Ashley Judd, Kevin Spacey and Kiefer Sutherland for their performances.

Roger Ebert praised the "cleverly constructed" film in the Chicago Sun-Times of July 26, 1996, and particularly the portrayals of Samuel L. Jackson and Matthew McConaughey.

Amnesty International France criticized the film as "disturbing" because it justified vigilante justice.

The French culture magazine Les Inrockuptibles described the film as "disgusting", "smelly", almost "fascist", with an "ultra-populist" script that makes you puke.

The Liberation criticized the film as "dirty", which sentimentally abused a black man to vote for vigilante justice.

“Filmed as a loud and star-oriented magazine story based on a bestseller by John Grisham. Real relationships are distorted just as much as the current dimensions of the racial conflict. More like a justification for vigilante justice than a useful contribution to the discussion of social grievances in the United States. "

- Lexicon of international film

The Wiesbaden film evaluation agency awarded the production the title “particularly valuable”.

Awards

All nominations and prizes were awarded in 1997.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Review by James Berardinelli
  2. ^ Review by Roger Ebert
  3. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated June 16, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.amnestyinternational.be
  4. ↑ Les Inrocks: Le Droit de tuer?
  5. ↑ CINEMA. Sur fond de conflit racial et d'autodéfense, un "Droit de tuer?" - Liberation
  6. ↑ The jury. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed May 7, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  7. ↑ fbw-filmbeval.com