Cédric Kahn’s The Goldman Case vividly portrays the minute details and beating pulse of the real-life court case of Pierre Goldman, crafting an immersive deep dive into the boundaries of the law and circumstantial evidence.
★★★★★
In recent years France has been a hotbed of thrilling courtroom dramas, with Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall winning the Palme d’Or and the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay last year, while the 2022 drama Saint Omer offered a heart-wrenching reimagining of a harrowing real-life court case. These similarities with Kahn’s The Goldman Case don’t just end there, with all three films offering scenes so tense and realistic that they capture the magnitude of the defendants’ accused crimes and how their fate hangs in the balance. Interestingly, these three recent movies also explore how intersectional factors like race, gender, religion or the immigrant experience challenge preconceived notions about morality and the basic fairness of France’s legal and judicial systems. These questions are even more prescient given the ongoing court case involving Gisèle Pélicot, the brutality of which is a shocking reminder of the monsters that hide in plain sight in society. This film asks if that is also true of its protagonist.
The Goldman Case follows the real-life trial of Pierre Goldman (Arieh Worthalter), a far-left activist accused of committing multiple armed robberies and murdering four people while raiding a pharmacy. Despite freely admitting to carrying out the former charges, Goldman rigorously denies this last accusation, which this court case hinges on, with a slew of witnesses testifying that they saw Goldman carrying out the crime. As the bombastic trial goes underway, Goldman’s outbursts and idiosyncratic methods of defending himself cause constant friction between him and his lawyer Georges (Arthur Harari).
Goldman’s accusations of antisemitism by individual officers and denouncement of the police force as being systemically racist only scratch the surface of the film’s racial and political elements. The defendant’s Jewish identity is frequently brought up, and for good reason, since his disdain for ordered but bigoted systems of power can be traced back to his family’s tragic past, separated from his mother after his father, along with other French Resistance members, kidnapped Goldman to ensure his safety.
It is quickly revealed that The Goldman Case is almost exclusively concerned with the events contained within the four walls of the courtroom. For all of the diverse groups of people populating the court, there is a striking sense of intimacy during this trial, whether the room tone has been hushed to silence during tense moments or has erupted into shouts of enthusiasm or dissent, with frequent outbursts from attendees and Goldman himself.
There are many nonspeaking, symbolic characters in this film, not least the trial itself, which feels like a complex battle of the soul (though it isn’t always clear whose soul that is). Is it a back-and-forth argument on the efficacy of France’s legal and judicial systems under the weight of widespread bigotry? Or an attempt to illustrate the complex figure of Goldman with both broad and delicate brushstrokes, creating a complex portrait that belies easy answers? Such questions cannot be answered solely with what the movie provides, and rightly so, with the courtroom drama showcasing the many ways in which circumstantial evidence and eye-witness testimony only go so far in reproducing the truth.
It is in this uncomfortable grey area that The Goldman Case shines, but what is truly remarkable is how it never lets its clever storytelling override emotional investment. Each of the characters called to deliver their testimony breathes life into their portrayals. One can imagine these civilians outside of the circumstances that bind them to this uneasy junction, where subjective truths collide with one another so routinely that these conflicting realities form one large, complex tapestry. One such example, L’agent Quinet (Paul Jeanson), begins his testimony as something of a hero, having attempted to apprehend the perpetrator of the heinous crime that Goldman is accused of. But the anger he displays towards Goldman’s outbursts and the conflicting aspects of his testimony paint him as a far more flawed figure in just a few minutes. This change in temperament is organic enough that it never feels as if Quinet has lost his humanity. Instead, it appears that the affable characteristics he likely displays in his own life mask his biases, anger and intransigence, creating a full portrait of this minor character.
Such an effect, which constantly sows doubt on the very notion of the truth, could not have been realised without such powerful performances at the helm. Even background actors portray their parts sublimely, with occasional emotive close-up shots of lone attendees or clusters of court journalists, far-left activists proclaiming their support for Goldman, and police officers who fail to hide their distaste for the accused.
Speaking of which, Goldman is an endless stream of chaotic energy. Still, there’s never a moment where this live wire of a human being feels as if his indignation is artificially produced. The defendant’s outbursts in the court might reveal how agonisingly obstinate Goldman was, but there is an internal logic to his repudiation of standard procedure in a court of law. This protagonist’s adherence to fatalism is both inspiring and aggravating, creating an impressive portrait of a man who refuses to back down in the face of outside pressure. Arieh Worthalter brilliantly conveys Goldman’s passionate and headstrong qualities, whose profession of his innocence is so powerful that it is impossible not to be swayed by the defendant’s conviction.
The technical craftsmanship on display amplifies the feeling of being a fly on the wall in this fascinating legal drama, with colour grading that feels appropriate for the period without drawing too much attention to itself. As well as being surrounded by people of disparate socio-political backgrounds, many shots of Goldman are hemmed in by the blurred, indistinct slivers of faces of court attendees or jury members. Despite this claustrophobia, the film doesn’t create a feeling of panic in the viewer, but rather intense immersion, where its very human characters are dissected with a surprising degree of warmth. Even the prosecution is sympathetic in their aims, as screenwriters Kahn and Nathalie Hertzberg recognise the beauty that can be found in legal argument, without letting that appreciation cloud the film’s sense of urgency.
Though The Goldman Case might have the veneer of a standard courtroom drama, the political, racial and religious contexts of the film extend far beyond the four walls that surround this mesmerising story. Over five decades since Goldman’s trial, the questions this movie conjures up have lost none of their urgency, resulting in a timely and unsettling portrait of a nation struggling to reconcile its past and present.
The Verdict
The Goldman Case strikingly captures the many facets of the subjective truths and lived experiences that surround the deadly crime Pierre Goldman has been accused of. In this complex and immersive drama, Kahn expertly casts a critical eye over people and institutions alike, belying easy answers about who, or what, to believe.
Words by Cian McGrath
The Goldman Case is available in UK and Irish cinemas from 20th September.
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