What kind of lawyer is Ann Talbott?
Lawyers, at least the film lawyers we have seen, seem to be fighting, for the sake of the fight and for something beyond the fight. Indeed, we might ask of a film lawyer (and ourselves) what is this fight all about? What is at stake? For the client and for the lawyer? What is at stake for Ann Talbott in the representation of her father in his deportation trail?
When the United States government initiates proceedings to deport her father, Michael J. Laszlo, who has according to the prosecutor, Jack Burke, committed horrendous Nazi war crimes "with his own hands" and is "evil incarnate," Ann Talbott replies: My father is an innocent man." There is, in the myth of law and lawyering, the idea that there is no greater fight than one in which innocence is at stake. We don't see anything of this sort in "Anatomy of a Murder" where the lawyer, Paul Biegler, is far more innocent than his client, Lieutenant Manion. Amanda Bonner in "Adam's Rib" defends a woman who knowingly shot her philandering husband who she catches in the act. Amanda Bonner represents a great cause, and her client is simply a means to insure that the cause is defended. We don't see a lawyer represent an innocent client until Atticus Finch represents Tom Robinson, falsely accused of rape by Mayella Ewell, in "To Kill a Mockingbird."
Ann Talbott is warned by her brother, her ex-husband (who is a lawyer), her legal colleagues where she works, and prosecutor Jack Burke not to represent her father. A colleague at her law office asks, "What do we know about our parents?" Ann's ex-husband advises: "I'm saying don't represent him. It's not just another case." And more directly: "What if he did it?"
How can you explain Ann Talbott's decision to represent her father against the better judgment of colleagues and family?
What kind of judge does Irving Silver, the judge in the case, turn out to be? (We might want to pay particular attention to the representation of judges in law films.)
What is your evaluation of Ann Talbott's cross-examination of the witnesses in the government's case against her father? With the OJ Simpson trial slowly fading from memory we may still remember Johnnie Cochran's decision to play the "race card." Ann Talbott seems to have made a similar decision in this case in making an issue of the fact that the witnesses are Jews and may, as a result, be prejudiced against her father as a result. In your view, did she have legitimate grounds to raise this issue? Keeping in mind that the trial is being conducted before a judge without a jury, a judge who was Jewish, was her strategy a sound one?
If you believe in defining moments, paths that diverge with a choice to be made on which to follow, lawyers are sometimes confronted with the Defining Case, the Big Case, the Case that Tests Your Substance. When Ann Talbott says, "Pappa, I'll represent you," we see her confront the Big Case. There is the sense, early on, that this case will be the defining moment in their lives. Ann Talbott says to her father: "Pappa, it's going to be OK." He replies: "It's never going to be OK again."
When Ann Talbott decides to represent her father, she moves out of her office, and sets up a temporary office with her father-in-law, Harry Talbott, who is also a lawyer. What kind of lawyer is Harry Talbott?
Jack Burke, the prosecutor, asks Ann: "How does a Laszlo become a Talbott?"
In what sense is "Music Box" (as with the other films we have seen) basically about truth?
"Music Box" is a lawyer film but Constantin Costa-Gavras, the French director of "Music Box" is well known for his work with political films: "Z" (1969), "The Confession" (1970), "State of Siege" (1973), "Missing" (1982), "Betrayed" (1988), "Mad City" (1997)
How does international politics set the stage for this lawyer film?
Costa-Gavras, when asked in an interview, about the political nature of his films, indicated disapproval with the characterization. He said of his films: "I think a social statement (would be more accurate). Or rather a social exploration. I try to understand what's going on around our lives," he said. "The idea of politics, of making political movies, I don't know exactly what that means because all movies are political. Politics is how you behave every day in your life." Spliced: Interview with Constantin Costa-Gavras
Stephen Brophy in a review of Costa-Gavras's "Mad City" says of the director: "Constantin Costa-Gavras has developed a reputation over the last three decades for telling cinematic stories which simultaneously appeal to mass audiences and teach political lessons. He does this not so much by preaching a particular dogma as by placing characters in situations which are defined by political forces, and watching how they react." Stephen Brophy, Looking at Movies: "Mad City."
Notes
Jessica Lange was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Ann Talbott
Films & Foreign Politics: [fictional film & docu-dramas and documentaries, film listings by the Human Rights Library, University of Minnesota]
John J. Michalczyk, Costa-Gavras: The Political Action Film (Philadelphia: Associated University Presses, 1984). This book examines Constantin Costa-Gavras work in the adaptation of The Execution into the film, "Missing" (an intense drama about the disappearance of a young American journalist, during the Chilean political coup in September, 1973) (starring Jack Lemmon)
