Surprising injustice in “Jaccuse” | Movie

The Polish director was convicted in the United States in 1978 for illegal sexual acts with a 13-year-old girl and fled the country soon after. Since then it has been controversial, especially as more allegations of abuse have been made against him in recent years. The main difference with the Dreyfus affair is that Polanski, certainly in the first case, was really guilty and has admitted it. Therefore, the fact that he dared to underline the parallels between himself and Dreyfus in a rare interview feels quite inappropriate.

Court martial in “Jaccuse”.

Back to the movie. It derives its title from the brochure published by Emile Zola Your battery …! since 1898, in which this famous writer publicly held responsible those responsible for the Dreyfus affair. From Polanski Your battery He picks up the story much earlier: when the officer in question (Louis Garrel) is stripped of his insignia with great power, while suffering this humiliation as much as possible with his head held high.

Then the director changes the perspective to Colonel Georges Picquart (Jean Dujardin), who, as the new chief of intelligence, discovers that the entire Dreyfus affair sucks. However, his attempts to discover the truth face much internal opposition and political pressure, even if he seems to locate the real culprit. However, he perseveres in this fascinating historical reconstruction, for which Robert Harris (Munich, Enigma) wrote the script together with Roman Polanski.

Colonel Picquart (Jean Dujardin) follows his moral compass at Jaccuse.

The result is A well-portrayed and attractively portrayed story of judicial error and the designation of a scapegoat for political gain. And about the courage of someone who dares to be guided by his moral compass. Polanski’s management sometimes feels somewhat distant. It is even more difficult for your film to be difficult to separate from the context cited. Whoever tries to do that, however, will be treated to a very expert drama about shocking injustice and the fight against it.