Kore-eda Hirokazu - Sandome no satsujin (The Third Murder)

Leading attorney Shigemori takes on the defense of murder-robbery suspect Misumi who served jail time for another murder committed thirty years ago. Shigemori’s chances of winning the case seem low—his client freely admits his guilt, despite facing the death penalty if he is convicted. As he digs deeper into the case, as he hears the testimonies of the victim’s family and Misumi himself, the once confident Shigemori begins to doubt whether his client is the murderer after all.

I wanted to depict the lawyer’s job properly. When I talked to lawyers, the legal supervisor of Soshite chichi ni naru, they told me: “Court is not the place to determine the truth.” They said that nobody could know the truth. I thought: “That’s interesting.” If that’s the case, I want to make a film about a legal drama where the truth isn’t revealed. Usually a film reaches the truth in the end. However, in this film, only the judgment procedure concludes while the characters don’t see the truth. It means our society condones an imperfect system that cannot maintain itself unless people judge people not knowing the truth. I think that the protagonist would feel terrified when he realizes it.