Dr.

Ram ManoharLohiya
National Law University, Lucknow
2011-2012

ENGLISH
[Final Project]

On

Film Review – ‘Primal Fear & Anatomy of a Murder’

Submitted for the project work undertaken in the partial fulfillment of B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) 5
years integrated course of Dr. Ram ManoharLohiya NLU, Lucknow.

Under the Guidance of: Submitted By:

( ) ( )

Mrs. Alka Singh Sonam Sharma

Asstt. Professor (English) Roll No: - 131

(R.M.L.N.L.U.) 1st Semester

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs. Alka Singh whose valuable
support, guidance and advice has helped me to complete this project. I would
also like to thank the library staff for working long hours to facilitate us with
required material going a long way in quenching our thirst for education. I
would also like to thank my seniors for guiding me through tough times they
themselves have been through, and lastly I would like to thank my friends for
keeping alive the spirit of competition in me.
INDEX
 Primal Fear
 Plot
 Storyline
 Awards
 Anatomy of a Murder
 Plot
 Storyline
 Awards
 Conclusion
 Bibliography
  PRIMAL FEAR

Directed by- Gregory Hoblit

Produced by- Gary Lucchesi, Howard W. Koch Jr.

Screenplay by- Steve Shagan, Ann Biderman

Based on- Primal Fear by William Diehl(1993)

Starring- Richard Gere, Laura Linney, John Mahoney, Alfre Woodard, Frances McDormand,
Edward Norton

Music by- James Newton Howard

Cinematography- Michael Chapman

Editing by- David Rosenbloom

Primal Fear is a 1996 American crime drama thriller film.

The film tells the story of a defense attorney, Martin Vail (Richard Gere), who defends an
altar boy, Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton), charged with the murder of a
Catholic archbishop.

Plot
Martin Vail is a prominent defense attorney in Chicago who jumps at the chance to
representAaronStampler, a young, stuttering altar boy accused of murdering the Archbishop.
At first interested primarily in the publicity that the case will bring, Vail comes to believe that
his client is truly innocent, much to the chagrin of the prosecutor (and Vail's former lover),
Janet Venable.

Vail discovers that powerful civic leaders, including the District Attorney, have lost millions
inreal estate investments due to a decision by the Archbishop not to develop certain church
lands. The archbishop received numerous death threats as a result. He also learns that the
archbishop had been sexually abusing altar boys, including Stampler.

Introducing this evidence, while it would make Stampler more sympathetic to the jury, would
also give his client a motive for murder, something the prosecution otherwise has lacked.

The trial does not proceed well for the defense, as there is considerable evidence against
Stampler and public opinion holds him almost certainly guilty. When Vail confronts his client
and accuses him of having lied, Aaron breaks down and transforms into a new persona, a
violent sociopath who calls himself "Roy." He confesses to the murder of the archbishop and
throws Vail against the wall, injuring him.

When this incident is over, Aaron appears to have no recollection of it. Molly Arrington,
thepsychiatrist examining Aaron, is convinced he suffers from multiple personality
disorder due to childhood by his own father. However, Vail cannot enter an insanity plea
during an ongoing trial.

Vail sets up a confrontation in court. After Venable questions him harshly, Aaron turns into
Roy and charges at her, threatening to snap her neck if anyone comes near him. Aaron is
subdued by courthouse marshals and is rushed back to his cell. In light of Aaron's
apparent insanity, the judge dismisses the jury in favor of a bench trial and then finds Aaron
not guilty by reason of mental insanity, and remands him to a mental hospital.

Vail visits to tell him this news. Aaron says he recalls nothing of what happened in the
courtroom, having again "lost time." However, just as Vail is leaving, Aaron asks him to "tell
Ms. Venable I hope her neck is okay," which is not something that Aaron should have been
able to remember if he had "lost time." Vail points this out, whereupon Stampler grins slyly
and reveals that he has been pretending to be insane the whole time. But he didn't make up
the identity of Roy, he made up Aaron.

Stampler now admits to having murdered the archbishop, as well as his girlfriend, Linda,
whom the cleric also had molested. Stunned and disillusioned, Vail walks away, with Roy
taunting him from the cell.
Storyline
"Primal Fear" begins with a murder – particularly grisly, with a victim far from the usual fare
of literary casualties. This time it's an Archbishop, murdered apparently without reason, and
given the way it happens, apparently the product of a deranged mind.

If the murder is gruesome, the main suspect is quite the opposite – an innocent young man
who manages to get the never-beaten Martin Vail to represent him. Vail is the lawyer you’d
like to be – he doesn’t give a damn what anyone thinks of him, he can’t be intimidated by
other lawyers or judges, and he earns a fair income on the way.

Awards
Edward Norton's depiction of Aaron Stampler gathered him multiple awards and
nominations.

Norton won:

 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor (won for Primal
Fear)
 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards for Best Supporting Actor (won for Primal Fear)
 Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actor
 Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor

Norton was nominated for:

 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Edward Norton

 British Academy Film Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
 National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor
 MTV Movie Award for Best Villain
  ANATOMY OF A MURDER
Directed by- Otto Preminger

Produced by- Otto Preminger

Screenplay by- Wendell Mayes

Story by- John D. Voelker

Starring- James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Arthur O'Connell, George C. Scott

Music by- Duke Ellington

Cinematography- Sam Leavitt

Editing by- Louis R. Loeffler

Plot
In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, small-town lawyer Paul Biegler (James Stewart), a
former district attorneywho lost his re-election bid, spends most of his time fishing, playing
the piano and hanging out with his alcoholic friend and colleague Parnell McCarthy (Arthur
O'Connell) and sardonic secretary Maida Rutledge (Eve Arden).

One day Biegler is contacted by Laura Manion (Lee Remick), wife of the loutish US
Army LieutenantFrederick "Manny" Manion (Ben Gazzara), who has been been arrested for
the first degree murder of innkeeper Barney Quill. Manion does not deny the murder, but
claims that his wife was raped by Quill.

Even with such a motivation, it would be difficult to get Manion cleared of murder, so
Biegler pushes him into a position where he claims to have no memory of the event, thus
giving them a chance of winning his freedom with a defense of irresistible impulse — a
version of a temporary insanity defense.

As he sets about preparing his case, Biegler catches Laura Manion flirting with other army
officers during a roadhouse party. He has to practically order her to stay away from
"men, juke joints, booze, and pinball machines" and wear a girdle in order to play the part of
a "meek little housewife" rather than that of a happy-go-lucky party girl. She also agrees to
give up her tight-fitting clothes and wears a formal dress, glasses, a hat and a woman's suit in
court.

Biegler's folksy speech and laid-back demeanor hide a sharp legal mind and a propensity for
courtroom theatrics that has the judge busy keeping things under control. However, the case
for the defense does not go well, especially since the local D.A. (Brooks West) is assisted by
a high-powered big city prosecutor named Claude Dancer (George C. Scott). Furthermore,
the prosecution goes all the way to block any mention of Manion's motive for killing Quill,
i.e. the raping of Laura. Biegler eventually manages to get the rape issue into the record and
Judge Weaver (Joseph N. Welch) agrees to allow the matter to be part of the deliberations.
However, Dancer's cross-examination of Laura effectively portrays her as a woman who was
not satisfied with her marriage and openly flirted with other men, including the one she
claimed raped her.

A doctor casts doubt on whether she was raped or not, though Biegler questions the method
he used to obtain the results, and psychiatrists give conflicting testimony to Manion's state of
mind when he killed Quill. Furthermore it comes out that even Lt. Manion doubted his wife,
as Laura, a Catholic, had to swear on a rosary to persuade her husband that the sex with Quill
was indeed non-consensual.

Quill's inn is due to be inherited by Mary Pilant (Kathryn Grant), a mysterious Canadian who
is suspected of being his mistress. Inquiries by Biegler's partner Parnell McCarthy, however,
reveal that she is in fact Quill's daughter, but is anxious to keep this secret since she was born
out of wedlock. Biegler, who is losing the case, tries to persuade her that Al Paquette (Murray
Hamilton), a bartender who witnessed the murder, knows that Quill raped Laura but is
covering this up, either out of love for Mary or loyalty to his late friend. Through Mary,
Biegler tries to persuade Paquette to testify for the defense on these grounds but he refuses.
Annoyed, Biegler leaves saying: "I'll leave a pass for you and Al at the trial. You might like
to watch Lt. Manion get convicted."

Mary does actually attend the final day of the trial when the issue is raised about the panties
that Laura was wearing on the night of the murder. These panties were never found at the
spot she claims the rape took place. Mary, who was unaware of this, later returns to testify
that she found the panties in the inn's laundry room, presuming that Quill dropped them down
the laundry chute when he returned home. Dancer insistently quizzes her that she was
lyingand that Quill was her lover. She shocks the court and torpedoes Dancer by stating that
Quill was her father.

Biegler has played heavily on the issue that he is "just a humble country lawyer" facing a
"brilliant prosecutor from the big city of Lansing", a factor which has played well with the
jury. After the closing speeches, however, he privately admits that Dancer delivered the "best
summary I've ever heard in a courtroom". It is to no avail, however: Manion is found "not
guilty by reason of insanity".

The next day Biegler and McCarthy go to see the Manions at their trailer park home in order
to collect their fee only to find the trailer missing. A note left by Manion tells Biegler that he
was "seized by an irresistible impulse" — the defense used by Biegler during the trial.
Evidence left lying around indicates that Manion was actually a heavy drinker who beat
Laura before they left. This might indicate that Laura's sexual encounter with Quill was
consensual (or that Manion believed it was) and that Manion killed Quill out of drunken
jealousy; or that Laura was raped but that Manion killed Quill in a drunken rage and not due
to irresistible impulse.

Biegler suggests to McCarthy that they solicit Mary Pilant to administer Barney Quill's
estate, quipping that it would be "poetic justice."

Storyline
Frederick Manion (Ben Gazzara), a lieutenant in the army, is arrested for the murder of a
bartender, Barney Quill. He claims, in his defense, that the victim had raped and beaten up
his wife Laura (Lee Remick). Although Laura supports her husband's story, the police
surgeon can find no evidence that she has been raped. Manion is defended by Paul Biegler
(James Stewart), a rather humble small-town lawyer. During the course of interviews, Biegler
discovers that Manion is violently possessive and jealous, and also that his wife has a
reputation for giving her favors to other men. Biegler realizes that the prosecution will try to
make the court believe that Laura was the lover of the bartender and thanManion killed him
and beat her up when he discovered them together. Manion pleads "not guilty" and Biegler,
who knows that his case is weak, sets his assistants to try to find a witness who will save
Manion.
Awards
Wins:

 New York Film Critics Circle Awards: NYFCC Award Best Actor, James Stewart, Best
Screenplay, Wendell Mayes; 1959.
 Venice Film Festival: Volpi Cup; Best Actor, James Stewart; 1959.
 Two Grammy Awards: Grammy; Best Soundtrack Album, Background Score from
Motion Picture or Television, Duke Ellington; 1959.
 Laurel Awards: Golden Laurel; Top Drama; Top Male Dramatic Performance, James
Stewart; Top Male Supporting Performance, Arthur O'Connell; 1960.
 Michigan Product of the Year.

Nominations:

Academy Awards:

 Best Actor in a Leading Role: James Stewart

 Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Arthur O'Connell
 Best Actor in a Supporting Role: George C. Scott
 Best Cinematography, Black-and-White: Sam Leavitt
 Best Film Editing: Louis R. Loeffler
 Best Picture: Otto Preminger
 Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium: Wendell Mayes 1960

British Academy of Film and Television Arts:

 BAFTA Film Award

 Best Film from any Source Otto Preminger, USA
 Best Foreign Actor James Stewart, USA
 Most Promising Newcomer Joseph N. Welch, USA; 1960.
 Directors Guild of America:
 DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures, Otto Preminger;
1960.
 Golden Globe Award: Golden Globe; Best Motion Picture - Drama; Best Motion Picture
Actress - Drama, Lee Remick; Best Motion Picture Director, Otto Preminger; Best
Supporting Actor, Joseph N. Welch; 1960.
CONCLUSION
In the movie “Primal Fear”, the legal aspect on which the light is thrown is when Aaron
Stampler (Edward Norton) is sexually abused when he was a child, by the archibishop whom
he had intended to murder and then eventually did. Aaron, now suffering from multiple
personality disorder murders the archibishop and when Martin Vail (Richard Gere) as his
lawyer comes into the scene he talks to his client, Aaron and finds out that he has developed a
multiple personality disorder and another personality inside him as built called “Roy”, who is
one insane person, a typical sociopath and being his body under Roy’s control kills the
archibishop. In the end of the movie we get to know that Aaron had been faking about his
personality of Stampler and he had been always been Roy.

In the movie, Anatomy of a murder, One controversial legal issue in this film is possible
witness coaching, a violation of legal canons. The only plausible legal defense Lt. Manion
has – the insanity defense – is virtually spelled out to a befuddled Manion by his prospective
counsel, who then temporarily suspends the conversation and suggests that Manion rethink
his factual/legal position. Witness coaching by the prosecution is even more blatant as they
call in other jail inmates awaiting sentencing to testify against Manion, and is portrayed
as subornation of perjury to an extent. The first suggests that the defendant may be
concealing the truth and manipulating his story in order to obtain the best possible verdict,
and the latter that the prosecution dangled a possible lighter sentence through plea bargain as
an incentive to perjury.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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