Jury court (film)

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Movie
German title Jury court
Original title Justice est faite
Country of production France
original language French
Publishing year 1950
length 105 minutes
Age rating JMK from 12
Rod
Director André Cayatte
script Charles Spaak
André Cayatte
production Robert Dorfmann
music Raymond Legrand
camera Jean Bourgoin
cut Christian Gaudin
occupation

Jury trial is a French judicial and litigation drama directed by André Cayatte, who specializes in legal issues .

action

Versailles 1950. The young doctor Elsa Lundenstein is accused of having committed a homicide to the detriment of her lover Maurice Vaudrémont, who was terminally ill with throat cancer . The evidence actually speaks for their innocence, were it not for a paragraph that forbids euthanasia in any form. There is also another man named Serge Kramer, who soon turns out to be Elsa's second lover. What does he have to do with this, and were Elsa's motives really as noble as she claims to be? The case soon turns out to be tricky when everyone involved believed that the process would start.

Seven jurors are called by the court to find out the truth. There was soon great disagreement among these jurors; Prejudices - Elsa is a foreigner (obviously - this is not completely evident - German, only five years after the end of the war in 1945 a major emotionally stressful problem in France) - and other motives lead to violent arguments behind the closed doors of the courtroom. Soon no one can be sure whether the judgment “In the name of the people” will necessarily be a just and fair one, since too many incalculable factors are involved in reaching the judgment. Even the witnesses are anything but always reliable, and in the end, despite a verdict, Elsa Lundenstein's guilt or innocence is not really unequivocally clarified.

Production notes

The jury was shot from March 10th to July 10th, 1950. The world premiere took place on September 20, 1950. The film opened on September 14, 1951 in Germany. The first German television broadcast took place on July 29, 1958.

useful information

The jury trial was the first part of Cayatte's so-called "Justice Trilogy". It followed in 1952 We Are All Murderers and 1955 The Black Files .

criticism

In Reclams film leader states: "The focus of the film are not the act and the person of the accused, but the seven jurors; The randomness of the judgment becomes clear, which is influenced by upbringing, personal experiences and moods. (...) The greatest part of the success of the film was undoubtedly due to the cleverly constructed script that Cayatte put precisely into the picture. "

Georges Sadoul wrote: “After a series of secondary films, André Cayatte created an important trilogy on legal issues: 'Justice est faite' ( jury court ) shows the psychology and mechanism of a jury. 'Nous sommers tous des Assassins' ( We are all murderers ) is a heavy indictment of the death penalty. 'Avant le Déluge' ( Before the Flood ) deals with the problem of juvenile criminals in the context of war psychosis ... "

Kay Weniger's The Great Personal Lexicon of the Film wrote in Cayatte's biography about his judicial film productions:

“The core of these films was not so much Cayatte's confrontation with the actual crime, but rather the clarification of the background to a verdict among juries ( jury ), presentation of incidents during preliminary judicial investigations and police methods ( the black file ) as well as the examination of the social environment of an offender and the social backgrounds that let him kill ( we are all murderers ). "

- The large personal lexicon of film , Volume 3. Berlin 2001, p. 26

In the Lexicon of International Films it says: “The jury's reactions, prejudices and personal attitudes come to the fore in a trial in which a woman is accused of euthanasia. André Cayatte - which is obvious for a former lawyer - followed the court proceedings meticulously. The precise montage technique of his film conveys an extremely critical and thoughtful picture of the negotiation, which is shown in all its contradictions. An artistic experience in all respects. "

Awards

Individual evidence

  1. Jean-Claude Sabria: Cinéma français. Les années 50. Paris 1987, no.495
  2. Reclams Filmführer , by Dieter Krusche, collaboration: Jürgen Labenski. P. 323. Stuttgart 1973.
  3. ^ Georges Sadoul: History of the cinematic art. Vienna 1957, p. 398
  4. jury court. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 

Web links