Anatomy of a Murder Be The Jury

by Sat K. Freedman Nominated for seven Academy Awards and adapted from a best-selling book renowned for its legal authenticity, Anatomy of a Murder combines the usual courtroom thrills of legal films with many of the more mundane, but still important details of a criminal case so seldom seen in movies. Not to worry though, the scenes of pretrial investigation, evidentiary rulings, status conferences, and legal research are often just as interesting as what happens in front of the jury when a witness is on the stand. James Stewart shines as a small-town attorney, recently dethroned as prosecutor and focused more on fishing than his faltering private practice, who takes on the defense of a seemingly open-and-shut murder case against the devilishly brilliant ringer (George C. Scott) brought in to be the architect of the new prosecutors case. Stewarts client is a hot-headed soldier (Ben Gazarra) charged with murdering the bartender who allegedly raped the soldiers flirtatious young wife (Lee Remick). Theres no question that the defendant shot his victim, so Stewarts defense is that his client went temporarily insane. But is Gazzara just claiming irresistible impulse because Stewart obliquely suggested he do so during their ethically questionable initial interview? The prosecution has its own bag of tricks, eventually resorting to putting the wifes character on trial, suggesting she had consensual sex with the deceased before he was shot, and that her injuries were from her enraged and jealous husband.

Sat K. Freedman is a Deputy Public Defender, State of Hawaii, and an alumni of Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert. He practices in First Circuit Court, defending clients accused of Class C felonies.

Never one afraid to push boundaries, Director Otto Preminger (Advise & Consent, The Man with the Golden Arm) addresses the then-taboo subjects of sex and rape with a frankness and level of detail that was scandalous at the time. He is also not afraid to present an ambiguous tale where there are no clear answers. The soldier, the wife, the dead man, the lawyers: none of these people are portrayed as clearly good or evil, guilty or innocent. Much like an actual jury judging a real

trial, the audience will be left with conflicting information from less than credible witnesses with questionable motives, presented by attorneys more interested in winning their case than getting to the truth. The courtroom scenes, athough often exciting, never feel overblown or pandering. Theres no Oscar-moment where the lead character gives an emotional monologue that leaves the audience cheering (or in tears). Preminger even makes the brilliant decision not to show the closing arguments, which are the meat and potatoes of every cliched trial movie. This movie, like a real trial, is about the presentation of evidence and the application of the law. Stewart and Scott certainly ham it up with their dramatic (and inappropriate) speaking objections during the trial, but their catty and sometimes explosive confrontations never feel false, in that they are clearly intended to sway the jury, and not the films audience. Stewarts character uses his small-town country lawyer persona to hide a keen legal mind, and it becomes apparent that his flustered outbursts and grandious objections are cooly calculated to win over the jury, or at least poison them against the prosecution. The film is even better with the knowledge that it is based on a real case, a fictionalized account of which was published in the best-seller by Robert Traver, the pen name of eventual Michigan Supreme Court Justice John Voelker, who defended the real-life soldier portrayed by Gazarra in the film. Premingers determination to give Anatomy a sheen of reality extended far and wide, and he shot the film in the same northern Michigan town where the crime occurred, using the actual murder location as a set, and even putting some of the real trials jurors into the movies jury panel! Certainly some artistic license has been taken, and the movie departs from the book in a few significant ways, but there may be no other film that more realistically captures the ebb and flow of a real criminal trial, where the case may be won or lost by anything and everything from late-night legal research in the bowels of a law library to the strategic application of a girdle. The film also features two other legends: a score by Duke Ellington, and a title sequence by Saul Bass (best known for the Psycho titles). _____________________ About the presenter Before he became a criminal defense lawyer, Sat was a litigation associate at Damon Key, a job he probably got based on a spirited discussion of David Lynch films. Sat served on the board of directors of the Cinema Paradise film festival, and has volunteered for HIFF since 2002 as, variously, a film screener, synopsis writer, and film presenter. His favorite movie trial is in Sommersby (a remake of The Return of Martin Guerre set in the Reconstruction-era south) and he will gladly re-enact Richard Geres climactic cross-examination of Jodie Foster for anybody who asks (How do you know, Laurel?). Most importantly, Sat has attended the Cannes Film Festival. Ask him about it.