Directed by Robert Redford.
Captain Fredrick Aiken (James McAvoy) returns from the Civil War as a hero and resumes his life as a lawyer in Washington. He is working for the former attorney general Reverdy Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) when President Lincoln is assassinated by John Booth and the Vice President and Secretary of State are attacked by other conspirators. The authorities react immediately, killing Booth, arresting seven men and one woman and putting together a military tribunal to try the rebels. The imprisoned female Mary Surratt (Robin Wright), not only owned the boarding house where the men planned the assassination but her son appears to be the only one of the conspirators who has escaped.
Up until that time, there had never been a female executed in America, but the military court is run in a completely different manner to a civil court. Captain Aiken is reluctantly recruited to defend the widow Mary Surratt and is frustrated that the men of the court seem to be making up the rules as they go along. He has no sympathy for the accused conspirator but sees that political motivations are making it a heavily biased trial and his main concern is that the law be upheld. The plot is full of intrigue as strong arguments are put forth for both patriotism and humanity, arguments that would not be out of place in current times.
The actual trial went on for seven weeks, but Redford’s film concentrates on the parts concerning Mary Surratt. The production design is excellent, bringing 1865 to life and it is always very interesting when legal philosophy comes into play to debate the conflict of ‘justice’ versus ‘injustice’. But it is McAvoy, who is in almost every scene, who carries off the drama of this little known bit of history.
Lezly Herbert
***
