Everything is out of order!

And Justice for All (1979)

Director: Norman Jewison

During one of those festivities gatherings, we managed to pin down one of our old schoolmates. That was quite an achievement, for he was and still is a senior partner in one of KL's outstanding law firms. We created a hypothetical situation. What if he, as a lawyer, either gets a client who admits his crime at the onset or, along the course of the trial, would he still continue to defend his client?

In so many words, with mentions of the right to proper legal representation and duty to the client, our layman's minds understood that he would still continue defending his client. His task was to ensure that his client was free of his charge. Of course, he would not purposely make his opponent win, knowing pretty well that his client committed the offence. Nowhere in the conversation was justice and seeking the truth uttered. Justice is what the court determines, and the truth is what is argued out. 

This must have been what the Sophists of the Greek tradition would have wanted - a skill in public speaking so convincing that one is able to sell ice to the Eskimo.

Recent events in this country prove that the legal arm is not there to seek the truth or dispense justice. It is just a question of who is holding the mantle of power. Seeing how often we see the arm of the Law bending backwards to the tunes of the members occupying the corridor of power is nauseating.

Arthur Kirkland (Al Pacino) sees all these in force in the courts. Haughty judges throw their weights around, suspects are treated like dirt, and the system has no time for the common man. Around him, he sees many dysfunctional attorneys move around like zombies playing to the tune of the system. Kirkland punches a judge when the judge repeatedly makes it difficult for his case to be put forward. For that, Kirkland spends a day in jail.

So Kirkland is perplexed when he is called to defend the judge he punched. The judge is charged with assault. The system feels that hiring a lawyer who abhors the judge would strengthen his case. He sees the system as existing to take of each other's interests. The last of their concerns is to improve the dispensing of justice, the welfare of the accused or reduce the number of those wrongly accused. 

Kirkland is threatened about his long-forgotten breach of client-attorney confidentiality case. He has no choice but to accept the offer. Along the way, he discovers more dirty secrets about the judge and rots about the system.

7.5/10. Good watch.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Bank heist: A political statement?

Dog day afternoon (1975)

What makes this bank robbery movie different from others of the same genre? We have bombarded with too many stories with nitty gritty technical details of planning and execution. DDA, however, appears to me like a satire of sorts. By the way, DDA just a poetic way of saying 'a scorching hot afternoon'.

The bank heist shown on screen these days are so high-tech. The amounts planned to be robbed are in gargantuan proportions and their modus operandi is usually much bigger - including world domination, anarchy, terrorism and even nuclear warheads. In the 70s, it was a political statement. It is about the small man fighting a system dominated by greedy enterprises and politicians. This film is based on a real story. 

It starts with 3 bumbling amateurs holding up a bank. Just as they unleash their weapons in the premises, one of the gang of three get cold feet and requested to be out. And off we goes, walking out the bank! The bumbling remaining duo - Sonny (Al Pacino) and Sal - were in for bad luck. The armour truck had come early to collect the bank money early, leaving only $1100 in the vault! So they started taking petty cash and travelers' cheques. To squash evidence, Sonny, the dominant and mastermind, started burning the register book. The billowing smoke alerted a passerby and within minutes, the area around the bank was sprawling with cops.
The  startled robbers took the bank employees as hostages. Negotiations over negotiations happened with the police to release the hostages. In came the TV crew eager to interview, and he did, of the robbers. Taking pity on the robbers who seem to be getting bad luck, one after another, the hostages develop Stockholm Syndrome! At some point, they even give suggestions to them what to do next.
The taped area outside become theatrical as the spectators cheer for the robbers as they deem that their action was heroic -the oppressed Vietnam veteran fighting the establishment, as Sonny goes on TV.
When Sonny requests to meet his wife, the police discovers that Sonny was a homosexual and brought him his gay 'wife' whom he had recently married (in a church!). Now, the gay community started lobbying their plight in front of the bank. They claim that the heist is a statement, to highlight their course!
Sonny's annoying mother and later his first wife appear at the scene. They, of course are no police to persuade the robbers to disarm as they are more interested in washing dirty linen in public and highlighting their own problems.
Sonny and Sal, who are at wits end on their escape route, demand for a free passage to Algeria on a jet.
Even though the whole stories may appear comical, the excellent direction and acting by the stars managed to maintain the suspense.
In the end, they only made it to the airport. Sal was shot dead by FBI and Sonny was captured. He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.
A classic film with subtle jibes at modern living. It pokes fun at people's herd mentality, media craze and media manipulation of people. A good one.

(N.B. Dog Day Afternoon just means 'a scorching hot afternoon')

One man's fight against a corrupt system

Serpico 1973
Soon after 'Godfather', Serpico became Al Pacino's stepping atone to stardom. I do not know if it is based on a true story but it had a biographical feel to its presentation. It tells the story of a cop who joined the force thinking that he could uphold justice but soon discovers that the whole policing force has rot to the core. To find an honest cop seems like an oxymoron which is more difficult to find than finding a proverbial needle in the haystack.
After finding dead-ends after dead-ends and lethargic feet dragging 'honest' cops, Serpico is shot in the face and meets a premature retirement. This disillusioned man leaves the country to live in Switzerland in the end of the film..
In midst of his turmoil at his work place, this frustrated man has to deal with the demands of his female companion/ girlfriend. Even though they (he had two at different times) were very patient with him, there was so much patience a person can have. They did not see a bright family life in this high strung undercover cop who was forever living off his edge. They all went separate ways.
Al Pacino, who won a few awards for his role in this blockbuster, appears good as a scruffy hirsute undercover cop who donned Indian type of kurta as his cover needed him to act like a junkie.