Direct account of Jean Heri (France, 1978), which led to his first contact The term “restorative justice” It happened thanks to a podcast. The director explained this by taking an appointment with LA RAZÓN via videoconferencing: “It’s not something that’s well known in France, This is a very powerful topic, the more I researched, the more I wanted to know about it. Making a film about it seemed far more interesting to me than a test film”, full didactic. And that’s really how it started “The Two Sides of Justice” (“Je verrai toujours vosvisages”), a French film that arrives in Spanish cinemas on 8 September and that examines the moral margin of those who, while believing in criminal justice, seek to bring victims and criminals together , survivor and perpetratorTo seek peace by negotiation between the two sides.
“It was clear to me that it had to be a device film,” says Herry, who has been a known face on the French scene for years as an actress and who has developed into a director since 2014, with films such as has reached a high level of genius. “in good hands” (2018). filmmakers who did not want to be approached by other films that dealt with the subject in peripheral ways, such as suffocation “Mass” (2021) or our “Maxabel” (2021), in order not to be corrupted, he admits to being inspired by mythology “12 Ruthless Men” (1957) or in the series “in therapy” (2021). “I completed a good round of documentation. they were about four months of interviewsThis way by Zoom, with people who have participated in the procedures”, he says of the complex preparations for the film, as Harry herself could not attend the meetings private and confidential nature His
cinema that listens
Featuring a solid artwork that is split into multiple stories at once, “The Two Sides of Justice” Features of Adele Exarchopoulos, Gilles Lelouche one of two elodie bouchez, these last two are repeating with the director. In one way or another, apologizing, demanding it, surrendering to oblivion or quite the opposite, the film’s characters lend strength to a heterogeneous universe, Far away from contemporary film trends like moral lessons or thesis, Nothing gets chewed. “The really interesting thing about restorative justice is that the people who participate, it orchestrates, a path, a path. It doesn’t force anyone to follow it and, in fact, it works between parties. provides many exits and detours. And it works for stages, like a narrative.(…) As an actress, I know actors seek those processes, and they want to work with really strong, powerful visuals“, Add.
and that is that although Harry shows himself certain about the validity of restorative justiceAnd its benefits to society, the truth is that his film is still honest. After all, this is cinema for adults, Not because of storylines whose rigidity lies in running away from sentimentality when it would be the easy way out; If not for the treatment, then for producing a film that has more things to hear than what she has to say. “I wanted to make a rich film, with many possible points of view. no opinion i don’t find interestingNot even for those who don’t believe in it, because it also contributes to the conversation”, explains the director, who here advances the argument in layers: from the irreparable seriousness of childhood sexual abuse to the accompanying violence Up to dacoity. No. It is a matter of judging or reading the crime in class or morality, as has always been done, whenever possible, whenever desired, cannot be compensated morally.
,There is no more proactive behavior than moving away from answers and asking questions“, explains the director, regarding the participation of professionals who are also taken into account in his film. Social workers and psychologists, not least in French law which already recognizes this type of meeting as a right to some degree. recognize in, they place themselves in the service of victims and survivors to deal with trauma. No one wants to forget or erase them, if not to actually be at peace with them and, if possible, even with their offenders.” I don’t know if anyone is capable of getting over trauma, forget it, but I know that restorative justice offers solutionsHelps people in a reliable manner. this is not a utopiaThey are protocols that exist and that are really effective”, says a didactic goodbye to the director, responsible for one of French cinema’s most intriguing and legitimately powerful propositions so far this year.