The movie "Not Guilty Murder" is a German film. In recent years, several European films have been released every year, but most of them are Italian, French or Spanish. and also Russian. There are a few German films, but not many. Although this "Not Guilty Murder" revolves around a murder case, it is not a crime film or a gangster film or a reasoning and detective film, but a critical realism film that reflects on history and has a left-wing color.
Through an obvious murder case, through a new-born lawyer who is not afraid of tigers, the film brings people's vision back to World War II, back to that cruel era, and tells the story of a vengeful killer. And more importantly, through this killer, a disgraceful post-war history of Germany is told - that is, in the form of laws, Germany actually put many Nazis who committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in World War II in After the war, they were acquitted, and they were pardoned so that they could legally be free from legal and historical sanctions.
From the standpoint of current law, the Avengers are unquestionably murderers, committed crimes - lynchings. But from a historical point of view, revenge is an effect, there is a cause behind it, and it is not a cause. One is the hatred of the country and the family, and the other is the inaction of the law. This actually reflects different views of justice to some extent - whether it is procedural justice or substantive justice.
Apart from this, the movie also leaves room for the audience to reminisce in some aspects. For example, in the end the murderer committed suicide in prison, so the case is closed. I personally tend to think that the so-called suicide is an illusion. Because the murderer has no reason to kill himself. On the contrary, it is the judge and the plaintiff and the prosecutor who need the defendant - the defendant on the side of historical justice - to die. This allows the so-called closure of the case without the need for historically based verdicts on those who were murdered — those who massacred civilians back then.
In addition, after the case, the choice of this lawyer is also a conscious arrangement. Just to be able to close the case within their control. But in the end, it's cleverness that is mistaken by cleverness. Of course, this is an artistic performance in itself. Reality is not so bright.
At present, many people think that Germany has done a good job in reflecting on and criticizing the crimes of World War II after the war, and it is a role model. However, looking at this film alone, the so-called model students may be just a misunderstanding of the "ideal", or a purposeful illusion. Perhaps, compared with Japan, Germany had more profound reflection and cutting of the crimes in the war at that time, but in practice, it also achieved decriminalization at the legal level, so that justice could not be demonstrated.
Overall, although there is not much turbulence in the plot of this film, I personally rated it 8-8.5 points from the critical realism of the above-mentioned films.
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