Movie 1: Primal Fear

I made a deal with my friend to review the movies I watch in defense of my opinion that you can actually learn something from movies and it is not a total waste of time. Here's to you, Mazin! ;)



Film: Primal Fear
Main cast: Richard Gere, Edward Norton
Genre: Courtroom drama
To access overview of the film: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117381/

My take on this film:
Ok, about the movie, I'd say it's a great movie and very enjoyable: it even won several awards and was nominated for an Oscar. The story is about a bigshot lawyer who took it upon himself to defend an altar boy accused of brutally murdering a priest in cold blood. The murder was gruesome and sadistic: an indication that it was a crime of passion. What implicated Aaron, the altar boy is the fact that he was found to be covered in the victim's blood. It was supposed to be a clear cut case without any elaborate trial but ceased to be so when Martin, the lawyer decided to represent Aaron. I am unclear as why he volunteered in the first place, but maybe it's just for publicity. In it he says that even a cold blooded murderer deserves a right for counsel and a fair trial because of the possibility that an innocent man could be punished for something he didn't commit. I think this is also true for syariah laws right? it is better to let a guilty man go than punishing an innocent man. So that is what Martin believes: a person is innocent until proven guilty.

For me, although in theory I agree on this, it is often hard to keep an open mind. It is easier to assume things, sterotyping so that human nature becomes more manageable. We often cloud our judgment with emotions and misplaced intuition. That is why clever manipulative people would play the crowd and win them over with appearances and effective oratory skills. The ability to withold judgment pending more evidence is in essence a trial on faith and patience. If all of us can do this, then the world would be a better place as there is more room for understanding and tolerance. Justice is for everyone, even if he is a serial killer.

Another thing, the accused's personality and demeanor does not suggest at all that he is capable of such heinous acts. He appears to be weak, he stutters and he's quiet and polite. Look as though he couldn't hurt a fly. This is why Martin believes that Aaron is innocent. He vehemently asserted Aaron's innocence although everyone believes that Aaron is guilty as hell. Martin went to great lengths to defend Aaron, pulling every string that he could. Martin even arranged for a neurologist (instead of a psychologist==> mesti la kene attack masa defend coz it's not her field, duh) to assess Aaron's personality in order to prove that Aaron is incapable of committing a gruesome murder. However, in the course of the specialist assessment Aaron shows sign of having multiple personality disorder: Aaron when threatened would revert to his other self, a sinister character called Roy. Roy is a version of Aaron that is uninhabited, violent and totally opposite of the mousy Aaron.
The situation in the court is not favorable for Aaron unless he pleads innocence on grounds of insanity, coz that way he'll be sent to an asylum with a chance for freedom a few years down the road. However, it is not permitted to change pleas during trial so Martin made a cunning trick in his defense to turn the tables around and he succeeded.
.
.
.
but then a twist right in the end revealed that actually Aaron was faking it all. There was never a Roy, an Aaron. Truth is, from whomever the story comes from it is still the same: he did it.

So goes the story with a nice twist in the end. Interesting?
I think I can understand why Aaron did what he did. he was set for a sure death but then a saviour comes to save his ass. Aaron is very smart in devising a plan for him to escape from his fate and he did it convincingly too. I think he is a psychopath and a smart one at that. He does not know how to discern right and wrong and he felt no remorse for the things he committed. He said that he and Martin were as if two people dancing to a tune to fool everyone. All is like a stage game for him. His one aim is to escape death with any means possible and he achieved it.
As for Martin, what goes on tumultuously in his heart, once he know that Aaron is a real murderer? What is a lawyer to do when confronted with that kind of crossroad? If he chose to reveal the truth, he'll bring shame to himself because just as easiliy Aaron fooled him, Aaron could fool others and turn them against Martin. If he chose to remain silent, he'll win a case and publicity for himself but his soul will be forever tortured with the knowledge that he just let a killer out into the street. I think that not many would have the guts and brains to stand up for the truth. They'll just wash their hands off it and move on with their lives. Just a little black dot in their perfectly sunny little lives that they'll live forever anxious that someday his skeletons would be let out of the closet. They'll rationalize it somehow that what transpires is beyond their power. I fear this is what plague us now: the rationalization escape route. Everything feels so distant from us so it doesn't concern us. The dangers of apathy.
At the end of the movie it shows Martin walking, very sure of himself. He'll still be a hotshot lawyer, nothing's changed. He'll move on, rationalizing that "I did my job, if after this he decides to kill again, it is not my fault".
At a glance, it's true. You can't be responsible for the consequences of your actions while being fooled right? You, yourself didn't know the truth.
But now you do. What now?

These are the questions that arise after I watched the movie. Everyone has their own interpretation, and their own lessons to learn.
What about you?