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Number 1 (January 1976) reprinted by permission Legal Studies Forum FILMSY EVIDENCE ETHAN KATSH Legal Studies Program, University of Massachusetts/Amherst What films reflect is not so much explicit credos asOne day after I had guided a class of under- graduates through the library's collection of law reports, statutes, reviews and digests, a student timidly asked, "But where is the book with all the laws in it?" It was a depressing question because we had spent several weeks developing the idea that law is a human process rather than a predict- able, consistent or logical process readily reducible to writing. When I later asked a third year law student where he thought that law was, he too believed that the answers were in the library. Legal realism for all of its demythologizing assaults, had not taken the citidal of print and for most people law quietly remains in books, usually very large dusty ones with leather bindings and almost unreadable fine print. It is only logical that students believe law to be in books since they are asked to spend so much time pouring over them. If other media such as simulations, tapes, or clinical work are suggested for law study, they are usually put down as "extracurricular" or frivilous substitutes for "serious work". And so conventional legal education reinforces the myth that law is to be found exclusively in the printed word. When one leaves the law school milieu, alternative media take on greater importance; every undergraduate teacher knows that Perry Mason has had vastly more to do with public conceptions about criminal law and its workings than Norval Morris. If television and films are where the action is, then teachers must go there, and bring their thematic content under study. Over the last five years, a law film series has been an integral part of our introductory legal studies course. The films have been important at a number of levels. Sometimes, as with documentaries like Denver v. Watson, the film is simply the best way to convey information about police discretion, criminal process, jury selection, the roles of judges, defense counsel and prosecution or being a defendant. In Wiseman's Juvenile Court, formal and informal dimensions of court activity can be unforgetably learned. Feature films operate at another level. While at their worst they embody most of the stereotypical views about law, at their best they poignantly show the ways that law touches the lives of people and the interconnection between social or group purpose and legal action. The Treasure of Sierra Madre has nothing to do with law at the ordinary level, but does demonstrate the complex relationship among individual psychol- ogies, group needs and law/government structure. Sometimes famous films have great content up to a point and then are spoiled. On the Waterfront is such a film; after a faithful portrayal of law and power on the docks, the film ends with.the implausible message that workers in trouble with racketeers should consult with the Crime Commission. Other gains come when films become integral with curriculum. Stu- dents who are accustomed to watching films passively become active viewers and deal consciously with what would otherwise operate only at the unconscious level. When students reach greater sophistication they can no longer be pushed around by the media. The list which follows includes most of the films we have shown during the past four years. It is hard to generalize about the list. Our main criterion for selecting a film was that at least one faculty member felt strongly that the film had something to do with law. We have also decided that at least half the films shown during a semester be non-documentaries, Most recently, we have been scheduling the commercial.dramas as a four day film festival during the third week of the semester. The four films we showed in this manner during the Fall, 1975 semester -- Bridge on the River Kwai, The Fixer, Judgment at Nuremberg and Vanishing Point -- provid- ed an intense (and enjoyable) experience for students and a powerful lesson that law is to be found in all institutions. During other semesters, we have scheduled one film every two weeks throughout the semester. The list of films is only meant to give some hint of the kind of films we have found useful. Catalogues are available from the different dis- tributors and the A.B.A. (Media: An Annotated Catalogue of Law- Related Audio-Visual Materials published by the American Bar Association Special Committee on Youth Citizenship). I would also be most interested in hearing from any persons who can recommend additions to our list. |
| Judgment at Nuremberg | The Seven Samurai |
| Twelve Angry Men | The Informer |
| A Thousand Clowns | The Cage |
| The Party | The Tenth Victim |
| King of Hearts | 1984 |
| Vanishing Point | Wild in the Streets |
| The Fixer | Lucia |
| The Ox Bow Incident | The Poor Pay More |
| A Man For All Seasons | Banks and the Poor |
| The Hunt
|
City and County of Denver.
v. Lauren R. Watson |
| On the Waterfront | Attica |
| Treasure of Sierra Madre | The Chicago Conspiracy Trial |
| Dr. Strangelove | Films of Frederick Wiseman: |
| Morgan | Juvenile Court |
| Z | High School |
| Battle of Algiers | Essene |
| Bridge on the River Kwai | Law and Order |
| The Ruling Class | Hospital |
| The Trial | Primate |
| The Caine Mutiny | Basic Training |