With Directors’ Fortnight Opener ‘The Goldman Case,’ Director Cedric Kahn Puts Language On Trial

variety.com:

Ben Croll Opening this year’s Directors’ Fortnight, “The Goldman Case” soars on rhetoric and singes with political debate, condensing a decade worth of civic upheaval into the narrow contours of a courtroom thriller.

At the center of this docudrama is Pierre Goldman (Arieh Worthalter), a left-wing radical appealing a murder charge – alongside a number of other offenses he actually does cop to – who became a galvanizing figure in France of the 1970s.

Working with co-writer Nathalie Hertzberg, director Cedric Kahn lifted from the accused’s two trials in 1974 and 1975, from subsequent interviews with friends and associates, and from the pages of the landmark book, “Dim Memories of a Polish Jew Born in France,” that turned the imprisoned Goldman into a left-wing cause célèbre.

Growing up amid fellow travelers, Kahn recognized the 1975 tome from his parents’ night table, though he only became familiar with its contents later in life. “I was struck by the quality of Goldman’s language and thought,” Kahn says. “Though I was approached to do a more conventional biopic, I didn’t find Goldman’s life all that interesting.