A question of honour

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Movie
German title A question of honour
Original title A few good men
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1992
length 138 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Rob Reiner
script Aaron Sorkin
production David Brown ,
Rob Reiner,
Andrew Scheinman
music Marc Shaiman
camera Robert Richardson
cut Robert Leighton ,
Steven Nevius
occupation

A question of honor (original title: A Few Good Men ) is an American film by director Rob Reiner from 1992 . It is based on the play of the same name by Aaron Sorkin , who also wrote the script. Two marine infantrymen are charged with the murder of a comrade and brought to justice. The leading roles are cast with Tom Cruise , Jack Nicholson , Demi Moore , Kevin Bacon , Kiefer Sutherland and Kevin Pollak .

action

On the US Marine - Base Guantanamo Bay , the soldier William Santiago was killed after he was assaulted by his comrades Dawson and Downey. Santiago was considered an outsider, while the two alleged perpetrators are model Marines. At first it is unclear whether the attack is a punitive action, namely a so-called “ Code Red ” , which - although officially prohibited - could have been ordered by a superior.

The charges brought against the two by the military criminal court are of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and "conduct unworthy of a marine". Dawson and Downey are accused of deliberately murdering Santiago to prevent him from relaying information about Dawson's past wrongdoing to the NIS . The two defendants, on the other hand, represent the death as a result of a punitive action ordered by a higher authority and thus see themselves wrongly accused. The charge in the trial is led by Marine Captain Jack Ross. As a defender are both the Navy - lawyers Lieutenant Junior Grade Daniel coffee and Lieutenant Commander Joanne Galloway aside. Galloway, because of her higher rank and theoretical knowledge, counts on the management of the defense, but to her surprise this is given to the young and inexperienced coffee. Navy Lieutenant Sam Weinberg is also part of the defense, although he has a deep dislike for Dawson and Downey, who, in his eyes, attacked a weaker man.

The defense's litigation strategy is to prove to the superior officers that they have given the order to punish with fatal outcome. Colonel Nathan R. Jessup, the commander of the ground forces at the US base at Guantanamo Bay, who may have ordered the Code Red, proves to be a key figure . Another central role is played by the Marines' immediate superior, their platoon leader Lieutenant Kendrick. He testified in court that he had explicitly ordered that the soldiers on his platoon were not allowed to use force against Santiago, even though the latter had drawn the anger of his comrades through repeated failures. However, Dawson and Downey, on the contrary, state that Kendrick ordered them the Code Red to Santiago, probably on the orders of Jessup.

First of all, Kaffee succeeds in putting his clients in a positive light: He proves that Dawson placed the later victim under his personal protection in numerous other cases in which a Code Red against Santiago would have been appropriate. In addition, Dawson secretly provided a comrade under arrest with groceries - which is why Kendrick has not proposed the ambitious Dawson for promotion. Coffee gets Kendrick on the witness stand to indirectly admit that Dawson would not have resisted another order from Kendrick - including a Code Red - out of career fears.

The defense situation takes a bad turn when the prosecution succeeds in convicting Dawson and Downey of a lie on an important issue: Prosecutor Ross proves that Downey was still on his way back from his post at the time of Kendrick's Code Red order was. Downey finally admits that he only received the order to punish Santiago from Dawson and not directly from Lieutenant Kendrick - Dawson now appears as the author of the fatal attack. The case becomes almost hopeless for the defense when their most important witness, Lieutenant Colonel Markinson, Jessup's deputy, takes his own life. Markinson previously volunteered for coffee after witnessing Jessup Kendrick's code red order to Santiago. However, his understanding of honor forbids him to speak publicly in court against Jessup, with whom he has a long service life together.

Coffee's strategy now is to summon Colonel Jessup as a witness and dare him to admit that he gave the order. In doing so, he risks his career, because without Markinson's testimony he has nothing in hand against Jessup and there is a legal requirement that makes accusing a superior officer without a reason a criminal offense. Coffee's instinct tells him that Jessup thinks Code Reds is right and no longer feels like hiding the truth. Coffee finally succeeds in provoking Jessup during the questioning in such a way that the judge - despite the judge's advice not to have to answer incriminating questions - finally admitted in anger that he had ordered the punishment against Santiago personally.

Jessup and Kendrick are arrested as a result. By admitting that he ordered the Code Red, he confirmed the Dawson and Downey version, rendering the murder charge untenable. The two marines are therefore acquitted, but found guilty on the charge of “conduct unworthy of a marine” and dishonorably discharged from the army. For the naive Downey, a world collapses - he continues to believe that he has done nothing wrong. Dawson then makes it clear to him that Marines have the task of fighting for the weaker.

synchronization

The German dubbing was commissioned by Berliner Synchron GmbH ; Jürgen Neu was responsible for the dialogue direction and the German dialogue book.

role actor German speaker
LTJG Daniel Coffee Tom Cruise Stephan Schwartz
COL Nathan R. Jessup Jack Nicholson Joachim Kerzel
LCDR JoAnne Galloway Demi Moore Katja Nottke
CPT Jack Ross Kevin Bacon Udo Schenk
LT Jonathan James Kendrick Kiefer Sutherland Tobias Master
LTJG Sam Weinberg Kevin Pollak Helmut Gauss
LCPL Harold W. Dawson Wolfgang Bodison Charles Rettinghaus
PFC Louden Downey James Marshall Andreas Fröhlich
LTC Matthew A. Markinson JT Walsh Norbert Gescher
Dr. Stone Christopher Guest Frank-Otto Schenk
CPT West John M. Jackson Jürgen Kluckert
LT Dave Spradling Matt Craven Michael Pan
CPT Whitaker Xander Berkeley Reinhard Kuhnert
Cpl. Jeffrey Barnes Noah Wyle Dirk Mueller
CPL Carl Hammaker Cuba Gooding Jr. Thomas Petruo
Judge COL Julius Alexander Randolph YES Preston Joachim Nottke

Corrections, production notes

  • “Unworthy behavior as a US Navy” is not a crime according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice of the USA, but a fiction that is modeled on the fact “Unworthy behavior as an officer”.
  • The US Marines do not use the term Ten-Hut (German: “Stand still”), but the term Attention on Deck (German: “Attention on Deck!”).
  • The US Marines never used the term Code Red . Instead, the term blanket party was used for this type of “punishment” .
  • The name of the base is given in the film as Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. The real US base Roosevelt Roads was not in Cuba, but in Puerto Rico . The name of the real US base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to which the film plot refers, is Guantanamo Bay Naval Base , or GTMO for short.
  • Naval Air Base Miramar in California was used as the filming location for Guantanamo , as was the case for the film Top Gun .
  • The cost of production was $ 40 million with worldwide revenues of around $ 243 million.

reception

Reviews

The film received mostly positive reviews. The film review portal Rotten Tomatoes gives 83% positive reviews for the film and it has a Metascore of 62 out of 100 at Metacritic .

“Rob Reiner turns the play into a formally and dramaturgically convincing court film, which is about illuminating military hierarchies, the nonsense of cadaver obedience and the relativity of every jurisdiction. The film dispenses with voyeuristic action orgies, lives from the depiction of the milieu, dialogues and convincing acting. "

- Heyne Film Yearbook 1994

“The film uses the prehistory and the process as a skillfully harnessed vehicle for the mobilization of emotions and for the parade of a top-class actor guard. The usual cinema clichés and external fascination block the way for critical questioning of military command. "

- Lexicon of international film

“In his exciting court drama, director Rob Reiner denounces excessive military drill, but remains strangely indecisive in his critical stance and glorifies the army as a self-cleaning force. With this consideration of military hierarchies Reiner was able to fall back on an impressive cast crew, above all Jack Nicholson, who as Colonel Jessup gives one of his proven bad guys roles to the best. "

- prism

Awards

  • Oscar nominations in the categories "Best Film", "Best Supporting Actor" ( Jack Nicholson ), "Best Editing" and "Best Sound"
  • Golden Globe nominations in the categories "Best Film (Drama)", "Best Director" (Rob Reiner), "Best Actor" ( Tom Cruise ), "Best Supporting Actor" ( Jack Nicholson ) and "Best Screenplay"
  • 1993: American Cinema Editor nomination for "Best Editing"
  • 1993: American Society of Cinematographers - nomination "Best Cinematography"
  • 1994: ASCAP Film and Television Music Award Top Box Office Film
  • Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Jack Nicholson
  • 1993: Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award nomination for "Best Picture"
  • 1993: Directors Guild of America nomination for "Best Director" Rob Reiner
  • 1993: Edgar Allan Poe Awards nomination for "Best Film"
  • 1992: Heartland Film Truly Moving Picture Award Rob Reiner
  • 1993: Image Award nomination
    • "Best Supporting Actor" Wolfgang Bodison
  • 1993: MTV Movie Award
    • "Best movie"
    • Nomination "Best Actress" Demi Moore
    • Nomination for "Best Actor" Tom Cruise
    • Nomination “Most Desirable Man” Tom Cruise
    • Nomination for "Best Villain" Jack Nicholson
  • New York Film Critics Circle Award nomination for "Best Supporting Actor" Jack Nicholson (third place)
  • 1993: People's Choice Award "Best Film"
  • 1993: PGA Award nomination "Best Production"
  • 1993: Southeastern Film Critics Association Award
    • "Best Film" (7th place)
    • "Best Supporting Actor" Jack Nicholson

The German Film and Media Assessment FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the rating "valuable".

DVD / BD publications

  • A question of honour. Special edition . Sony Pictures Home Entertainment 2001 (DVD)
  • It's a matter of honor . Sony Pictures Home Entertainment 2007 (BD)

literature

  • Aaron Sorkin : A Matter of Honor (Original Title: A Few Good Men ). German by Gunther Baumann . Rowohlt Theater-Verlag, Reinbek near Hamburg no year [stage manuscript.]
  • Aaron Sorkin A Few Good Men . French, New York and London 1990, 125 pp., ISBN 0-573-69200-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Synchronkartei.de
  2. ↑ Locations for A Matter of Honor in the Internet Movie Database
  3. ↑ Box office grossing results for A Matter of Honor on Box Office Mojo
  4. ↑ A Few Good Men at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
  5. ↑ A Few Good Men at Metacritic (English)
  6. ↑ A matter of honor. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed August 30, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  7. ↑ Film review of A Question of Honor on Prisma
  8. ↑ A question of honor in the German film and media rating