Title: "Sleepers" ("Sleepers") Year: 1996 Country: United States Director: Barry Levinson (Barry Levinson) Starring: Kevin Bacon (Kevin Bacon); Billy Crudup (Billy Crudup) Ru Depu); Brad Pitt; Robert De Niro; Ron Eldard
Lorenzo Carcaterra, Michal Sullivan, John Reily, and Thomas Marcano are children of four problem families living in the slums of New York. Fortunately, they have been taken care of by Father Bobby. In order to let the children have a different destiny from their parents, Father Bobby passed Helping them by various means, he hopes that these children will one day have a new starting point in life, but the four children did not realize the priest's good intentions.
The four children have the same siblings and inseparable form, but they have more juvenile agitation than ordinary children. One day, the four children had a whim and wanted to play tricks on the street vendors. Unexpectedly, the joke was so big that the vendors’ carts injured innocent passers-by. The four were found guilty and will serve their sentences in the Wigginson Junior Control Office. 6 18 months.
Entering the juvenile detention center was the beginning of a nightmare. The four children in the juvenile detention center were humiliated and tortured by the prison guards. Not only that, the prison guards also sexually abused them. If you fail to comply, you will encounter more severe humiliation and punishment. Even if the priest visits the prison many times, the four friends dare not ask for help. Before the end of the purgatory life, the children vowed not to disclose their life experience in prison to anyone. They hope that this history can be buried in their hearts when they leave the prison.
After adulthood, Lorenzo and Michal became reporters and prosecutors, respectively, while John and Thomas gave up themselves with unhealed trauma, and finally became the backbone of the gang. Walking on different paths in life, they still maintain good friendships. If they interact too intimately, they will inadvertently touch the wounds deep in their hearts, so they drift away from each other, carefully avoiding the minefields of their hearts.
One night, John and Thomas walked into a bar and saw prison guard Nokes who was eating. After repeated confirmations, they decided to kill Nokes. When I was young, I thought that the humiliation was deeply buried in my heart. In fact, I would inadvertently evoke the memory of turning the river and the sea. What's more, sitting in front of me is the prison guard who abused them for countless nights. The memory of that time of destruction and humiliation, even if done. The backbone of the gang, there is no way to erase it. After identifying Nokes, the two shot him in front of everyone, and then left calmly.
After learning the news, Lorenzo quickly contacted Michal to discuss countermeasures. Michal also did not keep the past imprisoned. He has been relying on his own efforts to quietly collect relevant information about these prison guards. These prison guards have done decent work after leaving the juvenile prison. Michal has been waiting for the right opportunity to retaliate. The killing of the prison guard by two partners disrupted Michal's arrangement, but it gave him another idea. Michal intends to sue his two brothers on behalf of the prosecution. Lorenzo goes to find a puppet lawyer for John and Thomas. According to Michal's arrangement, the lawyer representing John and Thomas must be an obedient lawyer who can guide witnesses according to the prompts written by Michal. . As a prosecutor, Michal didn't intend to win this lawsuit, but wanted to use clever arrangements to lure the snake out of the hole and expose the stigma of the prison guards. Michal blocked his own future just to make these people's sins come to light.
Lorenzo asked Michal: "Are you sure you want to do this? Isn't our vow when we leave prison to forget the past and the traces that can't be erased?" Michal retorted, "Are you still turning on the light while you were sleeping?" Lorenzo did not. To be correct, for so many years, even if someone is guarding his side, he must turn on the light to sleep, fearing that when he closes his eyes, the devilish figure rushes at him again. No matter how much the wound in my heart is repaired, it never heals.
A drunkard lawyer reluctantly became John and Thomas' defense lawyer under the coercion of the gang leader. Fortunately, he was just a tool. He would get the question outline drafted by Michal and the corresponding answers in advance. He only had to follow Michal's script to perform. That's it. At the same time, because of his previous living environment, Michal took the initiative to ask Ying to successfully become the prosecutor in this case.
In order for his plan to succeed, Michal needs to persuade the judge to agree to another prison guard Ferguson to testify as Nokes' moral witness. This is an unusual arrangement. Under normal circumstances, only the defense lawyer will make such a suggestion, arranging others to serve as the character witnesses of the criminal suspect to prove his consistently excellent character and leave a good impression on the jury. The quality of the victim has nothing to do with the case, let alone a dead victim. Michal explained to the judge that the victim was not only the name on the obituary, but also a living person. The murder of such a person was enough to prove the murder of the criminal suspect. The judge consulted the defense lawyer. Obviously, the defense lawyer would not have any opinions.
As an old friend of Nokes, Ferguson thought he would show the image of a noble prison guard in the court, but he did not expect to fall into a pre-arranged trap. The drunkard lawyer took the questions drafted by Michal, step by step to figure out the crimes committed by the prison guards in the juvenile guard, Ferguson burst into tears, full of regret for the past. His testimony not only proved that Nokes and himself are beasts, but also provided confessions for the crimes he committed. In the court, Michal became the director of the entire drama, both as a prosecutor and as a lawyer. The progress of the matter was arranged. He let the prison guards reveal themselves, and had the skill to hide the motives of John and Thomas' murder.
Ferguson’s testimony was deleted from the record by the judge. The jury’s verdict of guilt cannot be based on Ferguson’s testimony. This did not surprise Michal. He asked Ferguson to testify in court just to tell him about his animal experience in the juvenile prison. Instead of offending John and Thomas.
Next, Michal wants to offend the two partners. Under Michal's instruction, Lorenzo finds Father Bobby and tells him the tragic past in the juvenile. The priest watched these four children grow up, and always hoped that these children could go on the right path. Although the four finally chose a different life, the injury suffered during childhood, the priest did not hear the pain for the first time. feel suprised. The priest who has been thinking about it for a long time decided to betray the law and also betrayed God. He hopes to help the two children get away smoothly. From then on, they can change their hearts. The priest with his hand on the Bible swore to testify for the two accused suspects, and John and Thomas were acquitted by the priest's lies.
After the victory of the trial, the four people sang and celebrated together. But they all know that childhood was innocent and innocent, and there is no more worry-free time. After they entered the juvenile management office, their mind and body are destined to wave goodbye to the innocent time. They carry more than just the innocence. The price of growth is the humiliation that accompanies the pain of a lifetime. No matter how hard they struggle, they cannot ignore the past like ordinary people, or bury the past deeply and rebirth calmly.
Due to a disastrous defeat in a winning lawsuit, Michal resigned from the post of deputy prosecutor and moved to the countryside of England to become a part-time carpenter. He no longer worked as a lawyer and was not married. He lived alone and settled down. Lorenzo became a one. A famous writer, records the past in words. John and Thomas did not live a reformed life as the priest had imagined. John died at home when he was drunk on his 29th birthday, and he was still carrying five murders at the time of his death. Thomas was taken hostage at the age of 29. Shot at close range.
In the film, Michal happens to be a prosecutor at the place of crime. His unique identity allows him to avoid all evidence that is conducive to litigation when choosing evidence. The behavior of the puppet lawyer makes up for Michal's inability to be the defendant's defender. Among the shortcomings, even more respected old priests are willing to take the risk of taking criminal responsibility to justify the criminal suspects. All this makes this flawed trial a revenge for the partners. After the film was released, the New York Juvenile Administration denied that a similar incident had ever happened, but Lorenzo, as a writer, insisted that it was his own real experience, but the name, time, and location were adjusted by himself.
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