Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by mr grits (A) on April 19, 2011 at 18:03:01

This is a film about history AND today's politics. There is so much dialog that applies to our modern day situation you could easily be watching a trial at Guantanamo.

To recount the content of the film would be larborious save that it is worth seeing for the history and for that "Haven't I heard all this before?" feeling.

Three Brits: McAvoy, Wilkinson, and Meaney, carry major roles in illustrating the heated revenge the Union was ready to mete out to anyone remotely connected with the Lincoln assassination and the other two simultaneous attempts. You also feel the intensity of personal loyalties people felt during the Civil War period. This was more than a street corner fight for the South, it was a duel to the death for a way of life.

McAvoy does not want to defend Robin Wright but at the insistence of Wilkinson he begins and finally gets absorbed by the law and cause despite his fervor against the rebel assassins.

The closing titles began with the statement that SCOTUS, shortly thereafter, ruled that US citizens must be tried by civilian courts and not military tribunals even in time of war. I guess this was Redford's reminder to the good people in government to cool their jets.

Worth a see. Historical, thought provoking, and current.