Photo: Raymond Depardon's 10th District Court
Raymond Depardon's documentary The 10th District Court: Moments of Trial is constructed entirely from testimonies given by people inside judge Michèle Bernard-Requin's Paris courtroom. A self-righteous intellectual stands accused of carrying a knife in his pocket, African immigrants are charged with stealing and doping, and others are charged with driving under the influence. Considering the piles of shit she has to dig through, Bernard-Requin is seemingly fair and level-headed throughout, but perhaps I've been unduly affected by our culture of mean that I can't tell if Depardon is encouraging sympathy or contempt for the people who stand before the judge. The director weaves a tapestry of human tragedy from the fragmentary melodramas of these people's lives, and yet a privileged few at the film's New York Film Festival critics screening found the experience hysterical. But there's nothing remotely funny about watching these people—most of them, yes, bullshitters—twisting and squirming to evade punishment. Ed Gonzalez
Raymond Depardon's documentary The 10th District Court: Moments of Trial is constructed entirely from testimonies given by people inside judge Michèle Bernard-Requin's Paris courtroom. A self-righteous intellectual stands accused of carrying a knife in his pocket, African immigrants are charged with stealing and doping, and others are charged with driving under the influence. Considering the piles of shit she has to dig through, Bernard-Requin is seemingly fair and level-headed throughout, but perhaps I've been unduly affected by our culture of mean that I can't tell if Depardon is encouraging sympathy or contempt for the people who stand before the judge. The director weaves a tapestry of human tragedy from the fragmentary melodramas of these people's lives, and yet a privileged few at the film's New York Film Festival critics screening found the experience hysterical. But there's nothing remotely funny about watching these people—most of them, yes, bullshitters—twisting and squirming to evade punishment. Ed Gonzalez
