10th
District Court (Documentary)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C Documentary: B-
A long time ago, having the camera in the courtroom in
real life was considered more of a private, privileged space. For the worse, mass media, cable TV and “reality
TV” shows have made a mockery of the idea of a court and justice. Outside of shows like The People’s Court
where the participants agree to be on camera, the O.J. Simpson case and similar
no-budget soap operas have made the court a joke to some extent. Director Raymond Depardon tries to do
something different by shooting footage of a more rarely seen French court in 10th
District Court.
At first, it is something different and makes for an
interesting comparison to overexposed U.S. courts and even also-different
British courts. Unfortunately, after
you finish your comparisons, it also becomes more of the same and a run
on. The only think good here is that
Depardon is trying to show the persons as human, but that does not totally free
it of a sort of exploitive sense of its U.S. counterparts. However, it is a more obscure document of
its kind at this time and will hopefully stay that way.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.66 X 1 image has detail
limits and color limits, but looks fine for non-stop shooting in a
courtroom. The Dolby Digital 2.0 is
situational, simple stereo at best with little enhancement. Extras include the original trailer,
audience debate after a theatrical screening of the film, deleted scenes that
are more of the same and talk on the shot with the director.
- Nicholas Sheffo
