The Penitent - A Rational Man

New York. A psychiatrist sees his career and private life go off the rails after he refuses to testify on behalf of a former violent and unstable patient who has caused the death of a number of people. The fact that the young patient is a member of the LGBT community, the doctor’s Jewish faith, the press’s hunger for news and the severe judgment of the law, aggravated by a printing error made by a newspaper editor, seem to be the factors that trigger an explosive chain reaction.
The hounding in the media and the ferocity of the judicial system are added to the moral dilemma faced by the psychiatrist, who will take refuge behind the Hippocratic Oath in order to defend himself against the interrogations, pressure and betrayals on the part of all those seeking the truth. So who is the fiend? The young man? The doctor? The press? Justice? Can anyone claim to be innocent?

I loved the theatrical version of this text as much as I love the film version that follows the scheme of the thriller. The screenplay, written by a genius like David Mamet, is based on a true story, the Tarasoff case. The protagonist of our story is a psychoanalyst whose life has been ruined—along with that of many university professors, teachers and managers—by the ferocity of two other protagonists, which are, in the film and in life, the intrusive judicial system and the manipulated media.
When someone’s private life comes into collision with the mechanism of a system of communication that is not interested in objective presentation of the news, but in defamation, that is to say in visual and intuitive provocation, bent on making judgments rather than informing, a conflict arises. And if a judicial system identifies a victim who is not one of the real victims and a culprit who is not the real culprit, then it turns into true tragedy. But why does this happen? According to Mamet: “Because human nature is cruel.”

PRODUCTION 1: Luca Barbareschi – Eliseo Entertainment Spa
Via della Consulta, 1B
00184 – Roma, Italia
Tel. +39 066864849
Mob. +39 3281477735
f.alunno@eliseo-entertainment.it
http://www.eliseo-entertainment.it

PRODUCTION 2: Paolo del Brocco – Rai Cinema
Piazza Adriana, 12
00193 – Roma, Italia
anna.pomara@raicinema.it
http://www.raicinema.it

WORLD SALES: Flavien Eripret – Goodfellas
65 rue de Dunkerque
75009 – Paris, France
Tel. +33 143132132
feripret@goodfellas.film
http://www.goodfellas.film

ITALIAN DISTRIBUTION: Luigi Lonigro - 01 Distribution
Tel. +39 3477590173
anna.pomara@raicinema.it

PRESS OFFICE: Paola Papi
Via degli Eucalipti, 8/a
0006 – Roma, Italia
Mob. +39 3382385838
paolapapi@yahoo.it

ITALIAN PRESS OFFICE: Maria Letizia Maffei - Eliseo Entertainment Spa
Via della Consulta, 1b
00184 – Roma, Italia
Tel. +39 066864849
Mob. +39 3356467974
ml.maffei@eliseo-entertainment.it