Breaker Morant marks the third courtroom drama masterpiece I’ve seen this year after 12 Angry Men and Anatomy of a Fall and while I’d still give the slight edge to those two this just earned a very secure spot in my conversation of the best ever films to grace this sub-genre. Right off the bat I could tell this was a special movie from the amazing cinematography, I hate to say it because it makes me sound pretentious but the mis-en-scene here is nothing short of flawless and the shot composition is also unique for this genre which already elevates this above most courtroom dramas I’ve seen without getting into the story. Thankfully the story matching it is able to match the beauty of the filmmaking, I especially love the way it never tries to excuse the actions of our main characters (as the moral defense for them is literally just the Nuremberg trial defense) and instead focuses on the evil of the higher-ups and the way these men are made into scapegoats for an ideology they may have perpetuated but certainly didn’t conceive, it’s really brilliant in walking that tightrope of moral ambiguity and the fact they were able to make something so powerful out of such a touchy concept and situation is a huge testament to the creative minds behind this. The script telling that story is also brilliant, the dialogue of the courtroom scenes is fantastic and every conversation outside of it flows so naturally, great work by the trio behind said script and I’m happy to see, even though they didn’t win, that the academy acknowledged their amazing achievement here. As far as the acting goes I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a single performer carry a film as hard as Jack Thompson did here, like sure the defendants and the judges (specifically Charles Tingwell who was my second favorite here) had a few lines here and there but I’d genuinely say 3 out of 4 lines spoken in this movie are by Thompson and the performance he gives is as incredible as the spotlight he was given. Initially I didn’t have this on the movie itinerary tonight but I made a last second pivot and I’m so so happy I did, for my fellow fans of moral ambiguity and well written courtroom dramas there’s simply no better recommendation than Breaker Morant.
Breaker Morant marks the third courtroom drama masterpiece I’ve seen this year after 12 Angry Men and Anatomy of a Fall and while I’d still give the slight edge to those two this just earned a very secure spot in my conversation of the best ever films to grace this sub-genre. Right off the bat I could tell this was a special movie from the amazing cinematography, I hate to say it because it makes me sound pretentious but the mis-en-scene here is nothing short of flawless and the shot composition is also unique for this genre which already elevates this above most courtroom dramas I’ve seen without getting into the story. Thankfully the story matching it is able to match the beauty of the filmmaking, I especially love the way it never tries to excuse the actions of our main characters (as the moral defense for them is literally just the Nuremberg trial defense) and instead focuses on the evil of the higher-ups and the way these men are made into scapegoats for an ideology they may have perpetuated but certainly didn’t conceive, it’s really brilliant in walking that tightrope of moral ambiguity and the fact they were able to make something so powerful out of such a touchy concept and situation is a huge testament to the creative minds behind this. The script telling that story is also brilliant, the dialogue of the courtroom scenes is fantastic and every conversation outside of it flows so naturally, great work by the trio behind said script and I’m happy to see, even though they didn’t win, that the academy acknowledged their amazing achievement here. As far as the acting goes I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a single performer carry a film as hard as Jack Thompson did here, like sure the defendants and the judges (specifically Charles Tingwell who was my second favorite here) had a few lines here and there but I’d genuinely say 3 out of 4 lines spoken in this movie are by Thompson and the performance he gives is as incredible as the spotlight he was given. Initially I didn’t have this on the movie itinerary tonight but I made a last second pivot and I’m so so happy I did, for my fellow fans of moral ambiguity and well written courtroom dramas there’s simply no better recommendation than Breaker Morant.
