Não foi o que aconteceu desta vez: Testemunha de Acusação (Witness for the Prosecution, EUA/1957) é um filme ótimo!

Não é um whodunnit tradicional como aqueles pelos quais a escritora tornou-se famosa: a grande pegunta aqui não é "quem é o culpado?" e sim "será que ele é culpado?"

Ele, no caso, é Leonard Vole, interpretado por Tyrone Power, um homem acusado de assassinar uma senhora e que é levado a julgamento em Old Bailey.

Leonard Vole: But this is England, where I thought you never arrest, let alone convict, people for crimes they have not committed.
Sir Wilfrid: We try not to make a habit of it.

Seu álibi depende exclusivamente do testemunho de sua esposa Christine, a maravilhosa Marlene Dietrich, que é quem finalmente convence o advogado Sir Wilfrid a defendê-lo pessoalmente [dizem também que foi ela quem convenceu Billy Wilder a assumir a direção]. E o filme é todo do ator que o interpreta, Sir Charles Laughton.

Desde a primeira cena ele me cativou totalmente como o convalescente de um ataque cardíaco que luta para driblar a enfermeira [Elsa Lanchester, excelente também], ranzinza, sem papas na língua... O tom passa do grave ao divertido ao dramático em segundos.

Miss Plimsoll: How lucky you lawyers are... I almost married a lawyer once. I was in attendance when he had his appendectomy and we became engaged as soon as he could sit up. Then peritonitis set in, and he went like that.
Sir Wilfrid: He certainly was a lucky lawyer.

Como adaptação de uma peça teatral, o filme manteve as características de uma montagem com toda a ação se passando em apenas três cenários [o escritório de Sir Wilfrid, a corte de julgamento de Old Bailey e um bar clandestino alemão na Segunda Guerra], sem nada de efeitos especiais nem truques com a sonorização. Toda a tensão ficou a cargo da interpretação.

O que me chamou mais a atenção neste filme foi a idéia de como é fácil manipular a opinião pública, representada pelo júri. É um assunto pra se dormir em cima e meditar bem, quando a gente vê até evidência criminal sendo colocada como prova fora de contexto de acordo com o interesse particular da polícia, do promotor ou da defesa.

Gil Grissom afirma que a evidência não mente; o problema é que a evidência é manejada por pessoas e, citando Gregory House, pessoas mentem. A dificuldade de separar mentira e verdade é o ponto central de Testemunha de Acusação.

Quanto à fidelidade da adaptação, eu li as duas versões faz muito tempo [novela e roteiro para peça teatral] e, embora ainda lembre da solução, o filme conseguiu surpreender da mesma forma e com originalidade. Vale totalmente a pena.

Curiosidade: O ator que interpretou Mayhew é o mesmo que fez o papel de Mr. Brocklehurst no Jane Eyre de Orson Welles.

"Irgendwie kann der Gesinnungswandel der beiden einstigen Top-Naturschutz-Journalisten [...] schon ein wenig an einstige engagierte Verteidiger linker Terroristen erinnern, die inzwischen zu Neonazis mutiert sind."
Stuttgarter Zeitung

I used to like reading mysteries, especially the old style of mystery where a crime was committed before the story began, and we followed along with the detective as he or she tried to figure out whodunit. It was a puzzle, an intellectual game, and if the characters were flat and the guy detectives had a new dame every book, well, that was the formula and rather fun. Who could take it seriously? It seems as if we are supposed to take the current crop of sleuths seriously even if they are sassy and glib and don't take themselves seriously. We're supposed to care about their relationship problems, their obnoxious children, their annoying families. Which is fine, but where, in all that, is the mystery? Unless the mystery is why the writers are so popular.

I just finished reading a non-mystery mystery. Half the story was told from the point of view of the sleuths, who were so poorly drawn the only thing I know about them is that they were on a honeymoon; I have absolutely no feel for them as people. The other half of the story was told from the point of view of the jewel thieves the sleuths were after, so I knew whodunnit, I knew why they dunnit, I knew how they dunnit. Where was the mystery? And where was the suspense? The book had only two outcomes: either the sleuths caught the thieves or they didn't. So what? Perhaps if the characters were well drawn I could root for one or the other, but as it was, I simply did not care.

I used to think mysteries were easy to write. You conceived of a mystery, created an intriguing detective to solve it, hid clues in obvious and not so obvious places, drew dried herring across the path to confuse the scent, and when the mystery was solved, the book ended. But apparently I was wrong. If it was easy, we'd have great mysteries with great characters and I wouldn't be writing this.

I have to confess that I’m not a regular crime novel reader- but I know someone who is. Arthur is very keen on Ian Rankin and Stephen Booth, but he’s been trying out Patricia Cornwell and James Patterson lately. “Blow Fly”(1) is Patricia Cornwell’s twelfth novel in the Kay Scarpetta series. Scarpetta was, in previous novels, the Chief Medical Examiner for the state of Virginia, but has now moved to Florida to be a private forensic consultant. She soon becomes involved in a complicated case of a woman found dead holding a set of keys, but then receives news that the “Wolfman”, who is on death row is demanding to see her. After being accustomed to English crime writers, Arthur found the style a little unusual at first and thought the very short chapters a little odd (there are 124 all together), but enjoyed the book overall. Have you read it and, if so, what did you think?  Talking about chapters, “You’ve been Warned” (2), the latest from James Patterson and Howard Roughen has 110 chapters (is this the way most American crime writers write?). Arthur tells me he really enjoyed this, but I have a feeling he still prefers Ian Rankin above all others. Who is your favourite?

 A bit of nostalgia

Now another confession – I’m a railway buff and enjoy a browse through the transport section of any bookshop. Paul Atterbury has produced a series of books which evoke nostalgia for railways of times gone by. Following “Branch Line Britain”, “Along Country Lines” and “Tickets Please”, comes “Along Lost Lines” (3). Like the previous three, this is pure railway nostalgia, but not for those who want much in the way of detail. The book is crammed with railway photographs, reproductions of railway postcards, tickets, ephemera (such as London Midland and Scottish Railway Shunting Horn Code) and colourful posters. If you like a good wallow in nostalgia – even if you’re not a great railway fan – then you’d probably like this. As it’s the fourth in the series though, you get the impression that the author is running out of themes and at times the book is just a sort of miscellany. My copy had an unfortunate printing error. All the text on page 92 is repeated on page 94, though the accompanying photographs are different. If you’re buying, check that out first before you check it out, if you see what I mean.

 National year of reading

Another National Year of Reading is almost upon us, in an attempt to get more people reading. It seems hard to believe that the previous NYR was ten years ago – or am I mistaken? The “year” lasts from April to December ; the months of January to March are counted as planning months. Each of the nine months has a theme and numerous events around the country are being planned as you read this. Presumably the events will connect with the monthly themes – here’s a list of the them (taken from the NYR website )

• April: Read all about it! Links to newspapers and magazines; library membership campaign.

• May: Mind and Body. Reading and learning at work. The knock-on benefits of reading.

• June: Reading escapes. Holiday and summer reads.

• July: Rhythm and Rhyme. Poems, poetry and lyrics.

• August: Read the Game. The influence of sport and how this can help promote reading.

• September: You are what you read. Cultural, personal and local identity.

• October: Word of Mouth. Storytelling, reading out loud, reading together, reading aloud, live literature.

• November: Screen reads. Exploring the diversity of reading and writing; scripts, TV and films.

• December: Write the future. Writing, texting, blogging etc.

The website gives information about the events and you can search on a map to find out if there are any events in your area. I clicked on Mansfield and Nottingham, but I found no details of anything about to happen or planned for the future. It might be worth enquiring at your local library if any events are planned and if so why are they not on the website?. I have to say that so far the build up to the previous National Year of Reading had a greater impact here in Nottinghamshire, if my memory serves me right, but if you Google National Year of Reading 2008  you’ll find that plenty of other local authorites and some booksellers are planning events. Is anything happening in  Notts. ?

Oddest book title

Last time I mentioned my favourite for the Oddest Book Title of the Year prize organized by the Diagram Group and featured in The Bookseller magazine. You can get a complete list of the shortlisted titles along with more details of what the books are about at The Bookseller website  . What’s your favourite ? The winner is to be announced on March 28th.

 Next time..A visit to a reading group, Jacqueline Wilson brings out another bestseller and something to say about the weather for every day of the year bar one 

 (1)   Patricia Cornwell  “Blow Fly” Time Warner (paperback) £6.99 9780751530742 

(2)   James Patterson and Howard Roughen  “You’ve been Warned”  Headline £18.99  9780755330430

(3)   Paul Atterbury  “Along Lost Lines”  David & Charles 9780715325681 £25

Great Plains Fiction

It was an interesting read as it was set here in Winnipeg. Unfortunately the mystery plot was for me overshadowed by the descriptions of the Winnipeg General Strike which occurred in the background. Some elements were very well done, though, such as the shades of gray of characters' involvement in the strike, in socialist thinking, and in fervor of purpose. Unfortunately, I ended up feeling that the plot was not strong enough to compete with the fascinating events of the Winnipeg General Strike, and wished that the focus had been on those events, rather than on tangental ones that were woven into them. To be fair, that may be because I am so drawn to that chapter in history.

In the end, it was a fun read, and so is recommended to people interested in the politics and personal of the Strike of 1919, which created headlines across the world, or in a (historical) Winnipeg setting.

The second in the series of the Pink Panther Whodunnit puzzles. Will the Pink panther find the culprit? Will justice be served? Will the culprit be punished? Will the life of Sagaro be compensated? Will the insurance company pay up?

Who killed Sagaro and why?

For answers to this and more... you only have to wait...

Redher, Wulf "Sherlock Holmes - Philosopher Detective" Inquiry 22 pp.441-457

Redher points out that in A Study in Scarlet Watson notes that Holmes' knowledge of philosophy is 'nil' while in his later life Holmes devotes his time equally between philosophy and agriculture. Holmes is portrayed as employing Aristotle's 'induction by enumeration' and Bacon's 'induction by elimination' in the formulation of his law:

Eliminate all factors which in the face of the available facts are impossible; the one remaining possibility, even if improbable, must be the truth.

Rehder does a good job of attempting to draw some sort of consistent methodology out of the Holmes apocrophya. He suggest that Holmes employs the following techniques:

1.) The Method of Exclusion
2.) Fallibilism
3.) Inferential Reasoning
4.) Psychological Imagination