"Soupçons" (2004) TV mini-series

Director:

Jean-Xavier de Lestrade

Writer:

Jean-Xavier de Lestrade (writer)

Release Date:

June 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, presents a gripping courtroom thriller...

Plot Keywords:

TV Mini-Series

Awards:

2 wins

Also Known As:

Death on the Staircase (UK)
The Staircase (International: English title)

Runtime:

France:360 min (8 parts)

Country:

France

Language:

English

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Durham, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Maha Productions

Trivia:

Mike Nifong, the DA involved in the Duke Lacrosse case, appears as an assistant DA in this documentary.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Death on the Staircase: The Aftermath (2005) (TV)

Compelling viewing

What I liked about The Staircase was it was told at a more relaxed pace than 42-minute (minus ads) shows such as 48 Hours Mysteries or Real Crime. We get to see things in a lot more detail like life back at defendant Michael Peterson's home, investigations of crime scenes, locations, and discussions throughout the way.

Unlike the shorter shows you don't have to be paying attention 100% of the time, I missed an episode by accident and it didn't seem to make a huge difference. Unfortunately there's no camera teams sitting in on the prosecution's side so we don't see the trial from every perspective, but we see what they present in the courtroom at least. The prosecution's case was pretty convincing but the evidence the defence presented cast doubt on most of their theories. I tried not to form opinions either way and was interested only in the evidence, or what conclusions could be drawn from the evidence available.

In my opinion the jury decided the verdict more on emotion than anything else, and I was surprised that each and every one of them had reached a point where they were beyond any reasonable doubt. I did not see the whole testimony as I was not sitting at the trial for days, but based on the "highlights" presented, the jury's certainty made me wonder.

The Staircase was must-see viewing for me by the time of the final episode, there's a lot of material with eight episodes but it was all relevant, I guess a trial needs that many episodes to really give a feel for what it's like. One thing that surprised me was that the cameras had full access throughout the proceedings as well as the aftermath. Peterson's family and lawyers seemed comfortable, although I'm guessing it wasn't "The Osbournes" with cameras there night and day.

I thought The Staricase was a fairly unique documentary, and I think most people would find something of interest in it.