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| Movie Review: Terror's Advocate Alternate Title: The Devil's Advocate
Story: First, kill all the
lawyers is a punch line to a very old joke. After seeing this fascinating
documentary about lawyer Jacques Verges by Barbet
Schroeder (Reversal of Fortune) you might not think
that line very funny. What do Pol Pot, Klaus Barbie, Carlos
the Jackal and Slobodan Milosevic have in
common? Jacques Verges has represented them
all in court for their various crimes against humanity. Verges has spent
his entire public, yet very mysterious life defending the seemingly
indefensible. Schroeder had unprecedented access to Verges over many years of interviews.
We follow his convoluted life starting with his defense of Djamila
Bouried in the 1950's in Algiers (who he later married) through
what only can be described as a connect the dots chart consisting of
a rogue's gallery of mass murderers, conspirators, dictators and thugs.82
year old Verges comes off as smug, bloated, sinister, fascinating, egotist
and a person who thrives in the limelight of controversy and publicity.
This is an enthralling, long, difficult film to follow but Schroeder
has done his best using explanatory visual techniques so that even the
least informed persons can get the gist of the series of events where
we amazingly find Verges smack in the middle. If you are a student of history and like challenging documentaries,
this film is for you. Acting: Not applicable - it is a documentary.
Predilection: I like documentaries
Blatant Product Placement: Terrorism
Opening Titles: The opening finds Verges defending
Pol Pot - quite a grabber.
Theater Audience: A handful of politically active
movie goers.
Sappy Factor: 0
Quirky Meter: 0
Squirm Scale: Watching Verges defend the indefensible
was very squirmy indeed. Drift Factor: This film does not allow drifting. You
will be lost if you drift or take a popcorn run.
Tissue Usage: 0
Oscar Worthy: No
Big Screen or Rental: Rental would be fine.
Length: To long at 132 minutes and apparently it
has been cut down from the original shown at film festivals.
LOBO HOWLS: 7
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