Terror's Advocate (2007) Review

Terror’s Advocate

By Winston • March 26, 2008

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Starring: Jacques Verges, Bachir Boumaza, Yacef Saadi, Sine, Magdalena Kopp

Director: Barbet Schroeder

Writer(s): Barbet Schroeder

Studio: Magnolia

Rating: Unrated

Official Bar Score:

Applying a beer score to “Terror’s Advocate” was a bit of a task. The film is an intelligently made and engaging documentary telling the story of infamous defense attorney Jacques Verges, a brilliant but jaded lawyer who actively seeks out notorious clients and has connections with just about every terrorist organization imaginable. His client list includes bombers, terrorist leaders, Nazi war criminals, even the likes of Pol Pot. Verges story is beyond interesting and keeps you enthralled. Sounds like a winning combination, no?

The problem lies in that the film lives on the edge of justifying and glorifying the work the man has done, which left a really bad taste in my mouth considering how much I enjoyed the project. It’s hard to come up with reasons to recommend a film that very much borders on fostering violence and murder and trying to justify the carnage as “casualties of war.” I agree that everybody is entitled to proper representation, and that defense attorneys have a duty to make the best attempt at getting their clients out of trouble. But it’s hard for me to accept that someone who places a bomb in a heavily populated area or sends thousand of people to their demise deserves anything less than a public execution. My thoughts are in direct conflict with each other, making it hard for me to not love the film and just as difficult to not hate it.

At the same time, it’s that very thought provoking and informative nature that makes this documentary special. I found it very hard to turn away, despite it’s extradonarily long length (2.5+ hours). Barbet Schroeder is a rather accomplished filmmaker and his mastery of his craft is very evident in his excellent transitions between stories and clever usage of photography and text overlays to explain points and remind the viewer who is being talked about at the time. It’s a very deep story, but the whole thing flows very nicely and is easy to follow. As far as documentaries go, this is top notch work.

In the end, the beer score of 3.5 reflects the quality of the work and how engaging and informative the project is. I was going back and forth between 3.5 and 4, but I ultimately decided to go with the lower of the scores because it’s my opinion that everybody involved is completely reprehensible and should be ashamed of themselves. But the world isn’t perfect, there are many evil people in the world, and if nothing else “Terror’s Advocate” offers you a glimpse of their world. Documentary fans will eat it up.