This may come across as a petty dig, but Cédric Kahn’s The Goldman Case was, by a whisker, probably the better high-stakes existential French courtroom drama of 2023 (sorry Anatomy of a Fall!), yet its rigorous retelling of a historical flashpoint case from 1976 certainly makes it the unsexier of the two films.
Still, it’s hard to peel your eyes away from actor Arieh Worthalter who plays the strident and imposing leftwing intellectual Pierre Goldman who is in the dock to appeal a sentence for murder and robbery that has come about on the back of a lauded book he wrote from prison. As you’re watching the trial unfold, it’s impossible to tell whether Goldman is an earnest, outspoken truth-teller, who is happy to say things that may be detrimental to his own standing, or whether he’s a Machiavellian trickster who able to subtly manipulate the French legal apparatus in his favour.
Kahn co-wrote the film with Nathalie Hertzberg, and the pair’s modus operandi is to lean into the loud-quiet-loud dynamic, where there are sudden explosions of sound and fury emanating from all corners of the courtroom. It’s a complex case, and this is not a film you’ll be able to second screen if you want to make sure you’re keeping tabs on the particulars. But it’s a compelling and immersive drama which attains a contemporary relevance without ever really trying too hard.
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ANTICIPATION.
Cédric Kahn is a director who’s been in the directorial wilderness for a very long time. 3
ENJOYMENT.
Ahh, he’s back with a thumping and completely unpredictable courtroom drama. 4
IN RETROSPECT.
Actor Arieh Worthalter deserved his 2024 Caesar award for Best Actor. 4
Directed by
Cédric Kahn
Starring
Arieh Worthalter, Arthur Harari, Stéphan Guérin-Tillié
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