Potential and realization.

The Movie: The Accused, directed by Jonathan Kaplan
Recommendation: DKS
Reason: She's catching me up on my Jodie Foster fandom.

This year, I've seen a striking amount of torture scenes. A lot of eye gouging, a lot of needles and knives. Plenty of decapitations. Saw a guy's head almost get bisected in Pan's Labyrinth. I've seen Oldboy, Zombi 2 and Audition. I've only seen two rape scenes, and they stand out in my mind more than any of the gore. In The Accused, Jodie Foster steals the entire movie out from under Kelly McGillis, making every second of her screentime wrenching (including the aforementioned scene). The story of The Accused is based on the real life "Big Dan's rape". As usual, real life is actually worse than fiction.

It's par for the course that Jodie Foster, in her younger years, would outdo almost anyone she shared the screen with. I'm not saying she's a hack, simply that her presence is overwhelming. For once the supporting cast held up with distinction, and while Foster overwhelms McGillis several times, it's the latter that delivers one of the better summations I've seen on screen (No, I haven't seen Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Yet.). If you want to read it, here it is (huge block of text, you can't miss it), but I would strongly recommend seeing it for yourself.

This movie could have easily been made-for-TV. They've made movies of more horrible things and aired them. There were script issues and there were a few questionable editing decisions. I know some people question the necessity of the length of the rape scene, but I think I understand the director's point-rape isn't a comfortable time. It's not something that is over with quick and easy. I believe shortening the sequence would detract from the impact of that summation I mentioned earlier, neutering the climax of the film.

If you took a moment to flip through the article up above from Massachusets Lawyers Weekly, you'll note that the story this movie was based on was one of the first nationally televised trial. Kaplan made some interesting decisions in the background setting of his film to point out the bread-and-circuses spectacle the real case became, and the astute will easily pick up on them. Televisions are prevalent in his set dressing, and the images they show give some very subversive commentary. To give an example, a sexy commercial plays at the bar as the prosecutor visits to get an idea of the circumstances surrounding the rape. It's an interesting point, and one of the reasons this movie was so much more than it could have been.

-150/365 down, 215/365 to go