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davislevethan
Reviews
Scenes of a Crime (2011)
Great, intense crime documentary
I saw this film at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. This is an amazing documentary about a criminal case in New York where the police recorded a very long interrogation with a murder suspect. The film contains some extremely heart-wrenching scenes inside the interrogation room - it makes you aware that we really don't understand what happens every day in police stations. The police are investigating the death of the suspects child, after he was taken to the hospital in a coma. In the early part we see that the suspect confessed (after hours and hours) but that turns out to be only the beginning of the story. The police feel like they simply brought out the truth - but a defense expert says they used lies and other tricks to manipulate the suspect. And then the police pretty much agree! That's the heart of this film: the filmmakers really try to show all sides of the story, and give you everything bit by bit - including medical evidence. The case eventually goes to trial - and we get to actually hear the jurors talk about how they made their decision: amazing! A very revealing documentary about our justice system, and in particular, interrogations, which are a lot more complicated that they seem on "Law and Order."