2023-05-18 15:00:00
INTERVIEW. Cédric Kahn makes a great trial film, as a surgeon of the truth of his characters. His feature film opened the Quinzaine des cinéastes de Cannes.
Interview by Olivier Ubertalli, in Cannes
© franck castel / MAXPPP
Published on
Subscriber-only audio playback
Cédric Kahn did not want to make a hagiographic film on Pierre Goldman, an extreme left-wing activist convicted of various robberies, but acquitted for the murder of two pharmacists during a memorable trial in 1975. him, it’s his word”, he explains to the Point. In The Goldman Trialwhich opened the Quinzaine des cinéastes in Cannes, the director of boredom and of Robert Juice gives a voice to all of this France of the 1970s: lawyers, police officers, French people on the right and on the left, Parisians, provincials… A France cut in two, difficult to reconcile. The assizes of Amiens become the scene of clashes between these two Frances. A place where not one, but several truths are expressed. The result is a great, very great trial film that resonates in today’s France. A documentary-like fiction where we come across alongside Pierre Goldman, an uncontrollable defendant magnificently embodied by Arieh Worthalter, several renowned lawyers, including Georges Kiejman, who has just passed away. The film is due to be released in theaters next September. Interview.
Le Point: Where did the desire to make this trial film come from?
Cédric Kahn : I arrive at the trial by questioning the script. It’s the dark side of Pierre Goldman that interests me. I didn’t want to make him a hero. But I recognize in him intellectual qualities and a crazy charisma. His act of bravery is to have succeeded in being cleared of the murder of the two pharmacists. To get out of this trap. I thus naturally come to the trial, the place of language. The trials are fascinating because there are no pictures. Photos are prohibited and we only have drawings.
Which trial movies do you like?
I love watching it as a spectator. There is in particular In case of misfortunewith Brigitte Bardot, and JFK. But I thought more of the trial of Adolf Eichmann. I wanted to make a very documentary film, very immersive. Entering this arena is captivating.
READ ALSOCédric Kahn: once upon a time, “The Prayer”
This trial crystallizes the tensions of France in the 1970s, or even those of today…
The sociology of the trial is very binary. There is the lawyer Garraud, for the civil party, who flirts with the far right, the police… Opposite, there is Pierre Goldman the ultra-leftist, Georges Kiejman, socialist who was later minister of François Mitterrand. It’s right-wing France against left-wing France. Simple people, the provinces against Paris. The witnesses are all accused of racism. Today, society remains very binary. The situation has even become more radical. Between Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, there is not much on the political level. Everything was atomized. We always try to oppose the people to the elites. This is the Goldman trial. There is the elite, the left-wing Parisian intelligentsia, “bobo”, who defend Pierre Goldman and the witnesses crossed by these facts and whose word is called into question. Pierre Goldman politicizes this trial by saying that because he is Jewish, he is the ideal culprit. But if we stick to the facts, there is no anti-Semitism.
Today, the presumption of innocence is much flouted, especially by the press.
Is there a form of reconciliation possible between these two Frances?
Hardly. We see it during the verdict. The civil parties, who remain convinced of the guilt of Pierre Goldman, are overwhelmed. All witnesses recognize Pierre Goldman. It is troubling. The interest of this case is that it is not resolved. She remains a mystery.
How did you work to prepare this film?
We were unable to obtain the trial minutes, which did not exist at the time, but we collected all the press articles and interviews as well as Pierre Goldman’s book. [Souvenirs obscurs d’un juif polonais né en France, NDLR]. We tried to be as close as possible to what was said. Georges Kiejman was the publishers’ lawyer. The Goldman trial is a turning point in his career. This is his first trial at the assizes and the beginning of his notoriety. We resumed his argument, shortened for the needs of the cinema. I met him for the screenplay. He was a charming man, very intelligent, welcoming, but also mysterious. He controlled his speech a lot.
What debates do you want to spark with your film?
I would like him to pay homage to justice. In a trial, there is not only one but truths. Everyone is in survival and defending their position. Understanding the truth is a difficult exercise that requires time and rigor. The rule of law is complicated to accept. Accept that we can release the culprits. Georges Kiejman puts it very well: a state that no longer accepts the presumption of innocence is no longer a rule of law. However, today, the presumption of innocence is much flouted, especially by the press. There is also a public hunger for knowledge and for transparency and speed. All this is opposed, because justice and adversarial debate take time.
#Goldman #trial #rightwing #France #leftwing #France