William Friedkin is one of the most influential and important directors in American cinema. With ‘French Connection’, ‘The Exorcist’, ‘Breathless with Fear’ and ‘Cruising’ he has delivered several classics that push boundaries time and time again and that still generate a lot of enthusiasm today. William Friedkin died on August 7 at the age of 87 – tragic news for all film lovers.
But we can still look forward to a film from the master director: “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial”. The star-studded courtroom drama, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Caine Was Her Fate, debuts this year on Paramount+. It is not yet clear when. The film had its world premiere in September at the 2023 Venice Film Festival.
That’s what “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” is about
Naval officer Lieutenant Stephen Maryk (Jake Lacy) faces a US Navy court-martial. He is accused of one of the most serious charges possible: mutiny! In December 2022, in the middle of a storm, he dismissed his captain, Lieutenant Commander Phillip Queeg (Kiefer Sutherland), from command of the minesweeper Caine – citing the fact that his superior was mentally ill.
Marky’s attorney, Lieutenant Barney Greenwald (Jason Clarke), tells his client before the trial that he would much rather represent the prosecutor. He also asks prosecutor commander Katherine Challee’s (Monica Raymund) first witness so few questions that even Judge Captain Luther Blakely (Lance Reddick) feels compelled to intervene. But the longer the trial goes on, the clearer it becomes that Greenwald has a defense strategy – one he may not even like…
Exciting drama film
We were able to see “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” at this year’s Venice Film Festival – and were quite impressed with the courtroom thriller. The conclusion of the official FILMSTARTS review (3.5 stars) by our author Björn Becher is as follows:
“Fans of dialogue-heavy courtroom games can look forward to the streaming start of William Friedkin’s latest film. Because apart from a few Kiefer Sutherland exaggerations, this is a top-class drama cinema that lacks staging, but is otherwise exciting.
After his new edition of “The Twelve Jurors” from 1997, William Friedkin once again takes on a chamber play-like, dialogue-driven court thriller with “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial” – and proves his great class when it comes to acting. Jason Clarke in particular, who made things difficult for Cillian Murphy this year in ‘Oppenheimer’, again uses the limited setting to develop. So you can be happy: Friedkin’s farewell performance was worth seeing.