Review of Anatomy of a Murder (1959) by Ryan P — 10 Dec 2012

SPOILERS in this one, beware.

Plot: ''In a murder trial, the defendant says he suffered temporary insanity after he killed the victim who raped his wife. What is the truth, and will he win his case?''.

Brilliant movie. It's probably a bit lengthy, though I wouldn't say unnecessarily so. It's practically flawless. One of the greatest courtroom dramas and entertainments I've seen so far. Uniformly outstanding performances, but I have to single out the James Stewart and George C. Scott performances. Stellar directing by Otto Preminger. Duke Ellington composed a fabulous, though unusual jazz score. Wikipedia: ''This was one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to address sex and rape in graphic terms'' -- I was indeed pleasantly surprised to hear such words like ''panties,'' ''slut,'' ''bitch,'' and ''sperm'' being mentioned. A groundbreaking film for sure. The only misstep for me was right at the very end, the last scene (this is where the SPOILERS come in). He's (the Ben Gazzara character) been found not guilty, by virtue of insanity, yet he's just free to go? Doesn't he at least have to go to an institution or something? At the end of the film, he just takes off with his wife in their trailer... I mean, shouldn't there be some kind of justice for the murdered victim? Maybe I misinterpreted something, and it's not *that* big a thing, but that's the only part that bothered me. Oh, and also as it regards the outcome, I think it was pretty obvious the husband was never (temporarily) insane, nor do I think the wife was raped. The wife's character was just too shallow and sluttish to be innocent. She was most likely having an affair, and the husband knew all about it. I think he just made up the whole rape thing and beat his wife to go along with the story after he killed her lover. But I'm just speculating. I could be totally wrong. You really have to admire how the film doesn't tell us the truth. It's left up to the viewer, in the same way ''Doubt'' was left up to the viewer. Excellent. Anyway, enough of me babbling nonsense. The movie has rocketed into my top 150 favourite films. Storytelling at its finest. Highly recommended!