29 November 2013

QUESTION: Comparative Law and Film (A Cry for Help)

Sometime last year, I was asked to put together a list of films involving law. The list I prepared (below) was specifically limited to English-language films and is probably a bit old-fashioned and predictable. So am I. 

I can already see, too, that I missed some obvious titles (Eveline, Judgment at Nuremburg, etc).

I've wanted, however, to use film in teaching comparative law, legal history, and legal philosophy, among other classes, for a long time. I've hoped to give students some small insight in how things are done outside of the time/space with which they're familiar. 

I wonder if anyone out there is willing to help me? I'd be grateful for suggestions. 

For practical purposes here, recommendations should be available either dubbed or subtitled in English. The films could revolve around law (eg, a famous constitutional development) or law-like norms (eg, other types of social regulation in the past or present). 

Fiction and non-fiction, cinema and television, dramas and comedies, Laurel and Hardy, etc are all welcome.


- SPD (sean.donlan@ul.ie)

PS I should also ask about Comparative Law and Literature ...

[PLEASE CHECK AND ADD TO THE COMMENTS.]

*
  1. Adam’s Rib
  2. A Few Good Men
  3. Anatomy of a Murder
  4. And Justice for All
  5. Beckett
  6. Breaker Morant
  7. The Caine Mutiny
  8. Dead Man Walking
  9. Gideon’s Trumpet
  10. The Gods Must Be Crazy
  11. In Cold Blood
  12. Inherit the Wind
  13. The Insider
  14. Let Him Have It
  15. A Man for All Seasons
  16. The Ox-Bow Incident
  17. The Paper Chase
  18. A Place in the Sun
  19. Presumed Innocent
  20. The Star Chamber
  21. The Trial
  22. The Verdict
  23. The Winslow Boy
  24. Witness for the Prosecution
  25. The Wrong Man

6 comments:

  1. I should note that the list I prepared was in response to an email that already included To Kill a Mockingbird and Twelve Angry Men. Both of these films have been brought to my attention.

    Indeed, one of our bloggers (Erin) immediately thought of the following:

    12 Angry Men
    My Cousin Vinnie
    The Firm
    Philadelphia
    Erin Brokovich
    A Class Action
    The Runaway Jury
    To Kill a Mockingbird
    Kramer v Kramer

    In addition to mentioning Twelve Angry Men, our friend Andrea Ortolani provided links to his blog (in Italian) for Japanese films on Japanese law (http://dirittogiapponese.wordpress.com/2011/12/24/diritto-legge-e-giustizia-al-cinema/and http://dirittogiapponese.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/diritto-legge-e-giustizia-al-cinema-pena-di-morte-edition/).

    You should check out the blog: http://dirittogiapponese.wordpress.com/. He's also on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ortospace.

    ReplyDelete
  2. U.S.A.:

    Find me guilty
    Norimberga
    Primal Fear
    JFK

    Spain:

    Salvator (Puig Antig)

    Italy

    Matrimonio all'italiana
    Divorzio all'italiana
    la ragazza di Bube
    Romanzo di una strage
    Il sorteggio
    Many about Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone

    ReplyDelete
  3. U.sa
    A time to kill

    German
    Die Weiße Rose

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sorry the last one is

    Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage

    ReplyDelete
  5. La seconda volta non si scorda mai http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPToMqll5IA

    Il camorrista
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EIx9c3us

    I 57 giorni di borsellino

    ReplyDelete