The one thing immediately strikes while watching Jonathan Kaplan’s distressing movie “The Accused” (1988) is its made-for-TV vibe. TV
movies often lack the nuance and the actions are only confined to the middle of
screen. The frames doesn’t digress to imbue different interpretations or
subtlety but rather remains satiated to bring out its socially conscious
message (in the due process, the message itself may become bland). “The
Accused” tackles how rape victims are treated by the system, which often raises
the question of whether the victim was a willing participant or as some would
say ‘she was asking for it’—referring to the way they dressed. And as I
mentioned, this isn’t a skillful or nuanced exploration, but the immediate
impact the drama creates on us is hard to shake off. The reason for such an
impact comes from Jodie Foster’s meticulous performance (her first Oscar
winning role) and screenwriter’s (Tom Topor) approach in not blatantly
demonizing the perpetrators of the crime.
“The Accused” opens with the shot of a tavern called ‘The
Mill’ and gradually the bright sky fades to vicious darkness as neon sign
starts flickering. A blonde girl named Sarah Tobias (Jodie Foster) comes
charging out of the tavern, barefoot, screaming with tattered clothes and covered
with bruises. A passerby rushes her to the hospital, while a young man reports,
without revealing his identity, reports to police that a woman was raped in the
premises of The Mill. In the hospital, Sarah’s injuries are excruciatingly
assessed and questions are raised about her sex life before the violation.
Deputy District Attorney Kathryn Murphy (Kelly McGillis) prosecuting the case
is convinced that there’s not much to get a rape conviction. Sarah drinks,
smokes pot, works as a waitress and lives in a trailer with a
musician/drug-dealer boy friend. The defense lawyer of one of the perpetrator –
a rich, college going boy – blames Sarah for dressing provocatively. In other
words, Sarah’s was pictured as ‘low class bimbo’.
Career-oriented Kathryn Murphy believes that the Sarah’s dress
or behavior in the bar isn’t an excuse enough for her to be pinned down on top
of pinball machine and raped by three men, but Kathryn is also by-the-books
lawyer to immediately judge that Sarah’s life style wouldn’t make her sound
good on trial. So, Kathryn coerces the perpetrators’ lawyers to agree to a plea
bargain, in which ‘rape’ is changed to ‘reckless endangerment’. The prison
sentence for the three men is five years, although they can be out on parole in
nine months. Sarah accuses Kathryn for selling her out and is tired of getting
her character nature scrutinized or blamed. The attorney gradually understands
Sarah’s reality and empathizes with her plight. After a hard disapproval of the
district attorney, Kathryn decides to prosecute three other men, who cheered
and encouraged the rape under ‘criminal solicitation’.
“The Accused” raises some challenging questions as the trial
starts for criminal solicitation. The film makes clear that Sarah isn’t a very
sensible woman for getting inebriated and making such dance moves in the back
room of a bar, filled with few seedy men. There is a shot of a woman storming
of the back room, partly in disgust, which marks the point when those men lose
all their restraint. However, it also makes clear that Sarah’s naivety isn’t on
trial. And, for that matter, even the perpetrators aren’t brought into
spotlight. It rather concentrates on the accountability of the despicable mob
that was whopping like cheer-leaders. Sarah’s rape is not shown at the end of
trial, but in a way that five minute hard-hitting sequence wasn’t as painful
for me as the film’s opening moments or when Sarah says at trial, ‘I heard
someone screaming and it wasn’t me’.
Director Kaplan doesn’t take the sensationalist approach in
depicting that sequence and even terrifies us by showcasing the viewpoints of
victim, perpetrator and on-looker. But, I felt that the rape scene could have
used less camera movements and cutting. The odd and neatly resolved ending also
blunts the outrage that viewers derive from the rape scene. The final summation
by the attorneys at the trial is a bit monotonous, repeating the points without
much insight and Kelly McGillis flat performance doesn’t influence us strongly.
Kathryn, finding the crucial witness through the arcade machine and the witness
changing his hard stance with a little exchange are some of the movie’s
contrived moments. However, the film works and rests on Foster’s performance.
The way she imbues fragility and dignity into Sarah, without ever turning the
character into a mere crybaby reminds of how multi-layered her portrayal is.
The bond Sarah tries to make with Kathryn also feels very real and touching.
Trailer
Despite its tidied-up resolution and contrived moments, “The
Accused” (110 minutes) raises compelling questions on the subject of rape and
how the victims are blamed or treated by the system.
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