Forced to lie
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Forced to lie |
| Original title | Forgotten Sins |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1996 |
| length | 92 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Dick Lowry |
| script | TS Cook |
| production |
Nancy Hardin , Kenneth Kaufman |
| music | Mark Snow |
| camera | Henry M. Lebo |
| cut | William B. Stich |
| occupation | |
| |
Forced to Lie (original title Forgotten Sins ) is an American drama directed by Dick Lowry from 1996 . The plot is based in part on the 1994 book "Remembering Satan: A Tragic Case of Recovered Memory" by Lawrence Wright , which describes authentic events that Paul Ingram experienced in 1988.
action
The film begins with showing Sheriff Matthew Bradshaw and his relationship with his family. Almost every detail of these first scenes will be referred to later. In the first scene, Bradshaw is playing poker with colleagues and friends at home. His little son (around eight years old) comes in in his pajamas and his father is very friendly with him. Later he comes into the room of his two daughters Laura and Rebecca (around 20 and 16). They hear a cassette of pop music, the father reacts angrily and takes it away from them. A large Christian cross hangs on the wall of the room.
In one of the next scenes you can see the whole family in the church. People sing and pray together, a little more lively than would be usual in a European church. There are frequent heckling like "Praise the Lord". It may be a charismatic church.
In another scene, a colleague from the police workshop brings back one of the daughters' car, which he apparently repaired as a friendship. Bradshaw calls his daughter to come out and thank the man. She is not dressed yet and cannot come down right away. Bradshaw gets angry and screams louder and louder for her.
This is followed by a conversation between Bradshaw and his wife Roberta. He begins by asking whether he is spoiling her son too much, he doesn't want to make the same mistake as with the girls. His wife assures him that their relationship is something special, but quite normal. Then the conversation turns to the fact that he doesn't feel really close to his daughters. His wife advises him to talk to the pastor.
At the same time, one of the daughters goes on a “Christian Girls' Retreat”. At this weekend event, the girls should give their feelings free space and talk about things that burden them. The subject of sexual abuse is never addressed. A girl, seated in the middle of the circle, tells of how her brother persuaded her to ski down a steep slope together, and he died. She has felt guilty ever since, even though it had been his idea. After she says it, she is hugged and comforted by the supervisor, all the other girls come over and hug her too.
The Bradshaw daughter becomes progressively sadder during the event, especially as she watches the sympathy for the other girl. At the end of the event, she breaks down crying in the caregiver's arms and says that her father did terrible things to her.
The girls are placed in a family in the community, the father is arrested.
At first he denies everything, but when asked if his daughters would then lie, he replies that they are good Christians and would never do that. Suddenly he thinks that he might have done something to them after all, and just doesn't remember it anymore. The police interrogating him insisted that he wanted to confess that he just had to try harder to remember. He doesn't want to put his daughters to trial. The pastor visits him and also encourages him to try to remember. God will not allow him to remember wrong things. In addition, a police psychologist is called in, who also persuades him that he just has to relax, clear his head and let the pictures come.
And so Bradshaw tries to remember during the interrogations and also in between in his cell - there with the help of prayers . In later flashbacks with the help of tapes you can see how it went: “A man is standing next to me.” “Who is it?” “I can't see a face.” “Make an effort!” “Jesus, help me, the face to see, give me a face ... It's ... <name of a colleague or neighbor>. "
The girls' first allegations are only that the father came into the room and raped her . Although they shared the room, one of them never noticed the other had been raped. Shortly afterwards it is added that the poker colleagues are also accused. Two are arrested and sitting for some time in custody . Then the mother is also accused of having come into the room beforehand and "prepared" the girls. All of a sudden, they allegedly drove with their poker colleagues to another place where satanic rites were being performed, including the murder of an infant. Over time, ten to twenty babies are said to have been murdered and buried on the property. Excavations find nothing but an elk bone.
Even the mother, who first defends her husband and tries to convince him of his innocence, soon believes she is guilty and thinks that she has suppressed her memories - or she just plays it to at least keep custody of the son . She is also a victim of her husband, now the healing process has started.
The police call in psychologist Richard Ofshe . This actually exists at Berkeley University. It's supposed to make the case waterproof. In complete contrast to, however, it reveals that the girls are apparently lying or fantasizing and the father is persuading himself of the memories. Ofshe talks to the girls and asks about details of the satanic rituals, such as whether the “magician” stepped to the sacrificial stone from the right or from the left, what kind of goblet was used - the girls have no answer to any detailed question. If you are asked new questions separately, your answers will not be consistent. And their statements don't exactly match those of the father. In general, the statements made by all three are extremely vague. The police and the church justify this by stating that this is the case with suppressed memories.
Ofshe tests Bradshaw: He claims that one of the girls testified that the father took her and a neighbor or colleague out to a certain lake and forced her to sleep with him there. Bradshaw can't remember at first. In his cell he asks God / Jesus again for memories - and they come. The next day he also confesses to this act. Ofshe reveals to him that none of the girls said that, Ofhse himself invented it. He tries to make Bradshaw understand that his memories are imaginary, but he does not get through to him. Ofshe delivers the expert report which says Bradshaw is certainly innocent and his memories are false.
The defense attorney later approaches Ofshe for the other two imprisoned men on his university campus. Ofshe tries not to give any answers as he is involved in the case on the part of the prosecutor and is not allowed to speak to the defense about it. The judge must decide whether the report is given to the defense. The defense attorney says he doesn't believe the judge has the report and he is right. Ofshe sends the report directly to the judge. The judge angrily orders the prosecutor to immediately distribute this report to the defense.
Bradshaw continues to believe in his guilt and pleads guilty at the preliminary hearing so there is no trial and his daughters do not have to testify. Ofshe goes to him in horror and tries again to convince him that he is innocent. The next night Bradshaw prays intensely again, but now the memories disappear, he suddenly realizes that he is innocent.
In the announcement of the verdict shortly afterwards, at which his daughters and many other people are also in the audience, he says he never abused his daughter. But since he has already pleaded guilty, the judge reacts angrily that he will not be fooled and sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
Reviews
The lexicon of international films wrote that the film addressed " sexual abuse ", " political correctness " and " the power of false accusations ".
background
Paul Ingram , whose 1988 experience was described by Lawrence Wright, was found guilty in a court hearing. He was only released in 2003 after serving his sentence.
See also
Web links
- A lie forced in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The details of Paul Ingram's case ( December 4, 2004 memento on the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Berkeley News on Richard Ofshe
- ↑ Forced to lie. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .