Het vonnis (2013)

A man takes on his country's justice system after a procedural error that released his wife's murderer drives him to take matters into his own hands.

Director:

Jan Verheyen

Writer:

Jan Verheyen

Stars:

Koen De Bouw, Johan Leysen, Veerle Baetens

5 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Koen De Bouw	...	Luc Segers
Johan Leysen	...	Jan De Cock
Veerle Baetens	...	Meester Teugels
Jappe Claes	...	Procureur-Generaal Vanderbiest
Jo De Meyere	...	Karel Puype
Chris Lomme	...	Louise Puype
Hendrik Aerts	...	Kenny De Groot
Viviane de Muynck	...	Rechter Van Rillaer
Wouter Hendrickx	...	Inspecteur Vercauteren
Dirk Tuypens	...	Walter Veldeman
Joke Devynck	...	Ella De Graeve
Nell Cattrysse	...	Anna Segers
Vic de Wachter	...	Minister van Justitie
Sven De Ridder	...	Jan Ravoet
Robbie Cleiren	...	Wim Devos

Storyline

The life of Luc Segers (Koen De Bouw) runs smoothly. He lives in a beautiful house with his wife Ella and their little daughter Anna, and will be soon appointed CEO of a logistics company. When the family Segers returns home after a company party, and Luc stops on the way to refuel, disaster strikes. Ella Segers is beaten to death by a mugger, and by a bizarre coincidence is also Anna Segers killed. Luc Segers manages to survive, but only hears what happened when he awakens from a coma three weeks later. Luc is able to identify the robber. He takes an expensive lawyer, and trusts that justice will prevail. Due to a procedural error, the state magistrate court sets the mugger on the streets again within days. Devastated by the news he turns deaf ears to the reasonings of his lawyer. He can not live with the rule that has wronged him, and decides to take the law into his own hands. He finds out the whereabouts of the robber, and shoots him. Luc Segers will be taken into custody. There ...

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Belgium

Language:

Dutch

Release Date:

9 October 2013 (Belgium)

Also Known As:

The Verdict

Filming Locations:

Gent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eyeworks Film & TV Drama

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

Brilliant!

The cast is picked brilliant, the acting is great and the story totally convincing. I was drawn into the movie, it grabbed me almost in a 3D fashion and it didn't let go till long after I had left the theater. Even when the movie gets to the point where it's most likely to become dull, it kept me totally fascinated due to righteous argumentation's. The movie matters for it argues convincingly that righteousness is the most important value to society. It's what a successful state characterizes. It's the social contract between citizens and state. Thusfar a citizens best chance to righteousness has been in democracies. But it's not a given fact and even vested democracies risk implosion due to injustice. The movie greatly shows the difficulty in defining principles as justice and righteousness and how defending those basic human rights can lead to totally opposite conclusions. I don't envy the jurors that didn't get a chance to go for a compromise and wander what my verdict would have been...