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IMDbPro

Paholaisen asianajaja

Original title: L'avocat de la terreur
  • 20072007
  • UnratedUnrated
  • 2h 15m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
Paholaisen asianajaja (2007)
Theatrical Trailer from Magnolia Home Entertainment
Play trailer2:12
4 Videos
24 Photos
DocumentaryBiographyHistory

A documentary on Jacques Vergès, the controversial lawyer and former Free French Forces guerrilla who has defending unpopular figures such as Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and Holocaust den... Read allA documentary on Jacques Vergès, the controversial lawyer and former Free French Forces guerrilla who has defending unpopular figures such as Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy.A documentary on Jacques Vergès, the controversial lawyer and former Free French Forces guerrilla who has defending unpopular figures such as Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy.

IMDb RATING
7.1/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Barbet Schroeder
  • Stars
    • Jacques Vergès
    • Klaus Barbie(archive footage)
    • Barbet Schroeder(voice)
  • Director
    • Barbet Schroeder
  • Stars
    • Jacques Vergès
    • Klaus Barbie(archive footage)
    • Barbet Schroeder(voice)
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 10User reviews
    • 52Critic reviews
    • 75Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 wins & 5 nominations

    Videos4

    Terror's Advocate
    Trailer 2:12
    Watch Terror's Advocate
    Terror's Advocate
    Trailer 2:15
    Watch Terror's Advocate
    Terror's Advocate
    Clip 1:49
    Watch Terror's Advocate
    Terror's Advocate
    Clip 0:28
    Watch Terror's Advocate

    Photos24

    Jacques Vergès in Paholaisen asianajaja (2007)
    Paholaisen asianajaja (2007)
    Paholaisen asianajaja (2007)
    Paholaisen asianajaja (2007)
    Paholaisen asianajaja (2007)
    Barbet Schroeder in Paholaisen asianajaja (2007)
    Jacques Vergès in Paholaisen asianajaja (2007)
    Paholaisen asianajaja (2007)
    Paholaisen asianajaja (2007)
    Paholaisen asianajaja (2007)
    Klaus Barbie in Paholaisen asianajaja (2007)
    Klaus Barbie in Paholaisen asianajaja (2007)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jacques Vergès
    Jacques Vergès
    • Self
    Klaus Barbie
    Klaus Barbie
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Barbet Schroeder
    Barbet Schroeder
    • Récitant
    • (voice)
    • …
    Bassam Abu Sharif
    • Self
    Abderrahmane Benhamida
    • Self
    Djamila Bouhared
    • Self
    Bachir Boumaza
    • Self
    Maître Brahimi
    • Self
    Louis Caprioli
    • Self
    Nuon Chea
    • Self
    Isabelle Coutant-Peyre
    • Self
    Jean-Paul Dollé
    • Self
    Zohra Drif-Bitat
    • Self
    • (as Zohra Drif)
    Guillaume Durand
    Guillaume Durand
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Lionel Duroy
    • Self
    Claude Faure
    • Self
    David Flinchheimer
    • Self
    Horst Franz
    • Self
    • Director
      • Barbet Schroeder
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Quotes

      Jacques Vergès: I was asked "Would you defend Hitler?" I said "I'd even defend Bush! But only if he agrees to plead guilty."

    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: The Best of 2007 (2007)
    • Soundtracks
      Unbeschreiblich weiblich
      Written by Nina Hagen and Manfred Praeker

      Performed by Nina Hagen

    User reviews10

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    A fascinating documentary, even though it remains unclear where the director stands
    In the movies lawyers have often been depicted as honest guys who try to do their best to defend their client, but also as vicious fellas who do the job just for money or fame, even if that implies having dangerous clients (the culmination of such a concept was Taylor Hackford's The Devil's Advocate). And somewhere in between we can put Jacques Vergès, the French attorney around whom Barbet Schroeder has constructed his new film, the documentary Terror's Advocate.

    The title derives from the case that made Vergès famous at the beginning of his career: he was asked to defend a group of terrorists, responsible for a series of killings in Algeria. Of course, these men and women claimed to be freedom fighters, that what they did was the right thing to do. Vergès shared their ideals, managed to get them all out of jail and even married one of them. Subsequently he was always hired for controversial cases, and always ended up winning, even when his clients were former Nazis or Holocaust deniers.

    The point of the movie is this: what should people think of Vergès? In fact, the opening caption says: "This film represents the director's personal point of view on Jacques Vergès", yet ironically Schroeder's opinion is not clear. While he seems to agree with the titular lawyer in the first half, saying that the Algerian terrorists had good intentions but used the wrong means (and it is hard not to think likewise, especially after seeing Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers, based on those events), he does not directly express his feelings on Vergès' supposed ties with numerous German terrorists, some of which were involved in the 1972 Olympic Games massacre in Munich.

    As a consequence, the ambiguous attorney never really comes off as either good or bad: he does seem to have some kind of moral standards (when asked if he would have defended Hitler, he answers: "I'd even defend Bush, but he would have to plead guilty") and claims he has just been doing his job the whole time, but he refuses to comment on his alleged connections with German criminals, spreading no further light on the matter, nor does he reveal exactly what happened during his 12-year "disappearance", which he apparently spent in Paris for purposes unknown.

    Nonetheless, it shows that Vergès has two essential qualities for a good lawyer: charisma and eloquence. And he knowingly uses those tools while being interviewed, providing valuable insight on a previously unseen side of the legal system and making Terror's Advocate an intriguing picture, although clearly not to everyone's taste.
    helpful•42
    10
    • MaxBorg89
    • Jun 7, 2007

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 6, 2007 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • France
    • Official sites
      • Official site
      • Official site (France)
    • Languages
      • French
      • German
      • English
      • Central Khmer
    • Also known as
      • Terror's Advocate
    • Filming locations
      • Algiers, Algeria
    • Production companies
      • La Sofica Uni Etoile 3
      • Canal+
      • Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $47,724
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $11,197
      • Oct 14, 2007
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,086,656
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 15 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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