The Goldman Case (Le Procès Goldman) (12A) |Close-Up Film Review
Cast: Arieh Worthalters, Arthur Harari, Stéphan Guérin-Tillié
Review by Carol Allen
In those few out of court scenes it emerges that Goldman, who is Jewish with a history of revolutionary activism, appears to be at odds with his defence attorneys, particularly the lead one, Georges Kiejman (Arthur Harari), whom he describes contemptuously as an “armchair Jew”. This conflict though is but one element of a trial, which was a cause célèbre in France in the seventies.
The first stage of the trial involves the judge (Stéphan Guérin-Tillié) recounting Goldman’s history – his parentage, Jewish refugees who became French resistance workers in the war; his mother, a Marxist, whom Goldman admires and emulates, who deserted him to return to Poland leaving him to be raised in France by his father and stepmother.
Then there’s his record of left wing activist activity as an adult, first in Venezuela, then in the ’68 uprising in France, culminating in his arrest and life imprisonment for four armed robberies years earlier, one of which resulted in the death of two pharmacists. While freely admitting three of those crimes, Goldman vehemently denies the fourth, the one which involves the murders and this is what the trial is about.
Judging on this film, French trials are far more colourful and less structured than British ones. For a start the judge does much of the questioning, interrupted ad hoc by the defence, the prosecution, the defendant and Goldman’s volatile chorus of supporters, all of whom sit in the well of the court. As the witnesses are called one by one, the story that emerges is one of dodgy witness memory and identification, inaccuracy, intimidation and police corruption, evidence distortion and prejudice against Goldman as a Jew and his black friends.
It’s gripping stuff. A strong, emotionally engaging story, while the acting is impeccable, particularly Worthalters as Goldman – not a likeable man but a passionate, intelligent and charismatic one.
