The Goldman Case (12A)
Directed by Cedric Kahn

 
“I AM innocent, because I am innocent” Pierre Goldman tells the presiding judge refusing to provide any proof or character witnesses in this nail-biting courtroom drama by co-writer and director Cedric Kahn. 
 
It is based on the real-life court case of Goldman (Arieh Worthalter), a Jewish far-left activist who had been jailed for life for four armed robberies, one which had resulted in the deaths of two women which he denied causing. The film centres on his appeal hearing in November 1975 in Paris during which he became the darling and the hero of the intellectual left. 
 
It is an absolutely gripping drama due to Worthalter’s stellar charisma-oozing performance as he commands the courtroom. His smart-arsed quips and outbursts to the judge, the prosecution and witnesses as he calls them out are extraordinary. At no point did the judge declare contempt of court on either him, or the prosecution lawyer Maitre Garaud (Nicolas Briancon) following his attacks on Goldman. 
 
The rowdy court scenes, reminiscent of Anatomy of a Fall, are unbelievable as at one moment it deteriorates into a screaming match. Goldman’s defence lawyer Maitre Kiejman (Arthur Harari) is incensed with his client who refuses to take his advice and stay quiet in court. He warns him Garaud is playing an intricate game of trying to get him to rise to the bait and he should ignore him, which he doesn’t. 
 
Plus, as Goldman reminds the court, he is innocent until proven guilty and the prosecution doesn’t seem to have proven their case. Instead it is Goldman’s Jewishness and far-left views that seem to be on trial as they question his activist father about Goldman’s upbringing and views. In a radical statement he asserts that the French police were corrupt and racist and had framed him.
 
The trial was apparently an exact microcosm of French society at that time in that justice was white and male, so little has changed. Also the social issues back then still resonate today with society being fractured between the left and the far right. 
 
It is a fascinating film driven by a virtuoso performance by Worthalter. 

In cinemas September 20