Law on Film is created and produced by Jonathan Hafetz. Jonathan is a professor at Seton Hall Law School. He has written many books and articles about the law. He has litigated important cases to protect civil liberties and human rights while working at the ACLU and other organizations. Jonathan is a huge film buff and has been watching, studying, and talking about movies for as long as he can remember.
For more information about Jonathan, here's a link to his bio: https://law.shu.edu/faculty/full-time/jonathan-hafetz.cfm
You can contact him at jonathanhafetz@gmail.com
You can follow him on X (Twitter) @jonathanhafetz
You can follow the podcast on X (Twitter) @LawOnFilm
You can follow the podcast on Instagram @lawonfilmpodcast
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Episode 1: Breaker Morant (Guest: Michel Paradis)
This episode examines Breaker Morant, the 1980 Australian New Wave film depicting the military trial of Harry ("Breaker") Morant and two other Australian soldiers for war crimes committed during the Second Boer War in South Africa. The film, directed by Bruce Beresford, offers a gripping account of the trial and raises a host of questions about law and justice during wartime--questions that are as relevant today as they were when the trial took place more than a century ago. I am joined on this episode by veteran attorney Michel Paradis, ... Read More -
Episode 2: Anatomy of a Murder (Guest: Joshua Dratel)
This episode explores Anatomy of a Murder (1959), the legendary courtroom drama produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The film features an outstanding cast, including Jimmy Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, George C. Scott, and Eve Arden. It also includes the real-life Joseph N. Welch, who played a key role in finally taking down Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954. The film is widely regarded as one of the best courtroom dramas in the history of cinema. Joshua Dratel, a leading criminal defense attorney, joins as my ... Read More -
Episode 3: Zero Dark Thirty & The Report (Guest: Karen Greenberg)
This episode looks at two films from the “War on Terrorism”: Zero Dark Thirty (2012), directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written Mark Boal; and The Report (2019), written and directed by Scott Z. Burns. Zero Dark Thirty, which stars Jessica Chastain as a CIA agent, depicts the nearly decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden. The Report, which stars Adam Driver, examines the investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee, led by Senator Dianne Feinstein, into the CIA’s detention and interrogation program. The films are often in dialogue with each other, and ... Read More -
Episode 4: The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Guest: Gerald Lefcourt)
This episode examines The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020), written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, with an all-star cast, including Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mark Rylance, and Frank Langella. The film is based on the 1969 trial of Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, and other anti-Vietnam War protestors prosecuted for conspiracy in connection with the mass protests —and brutal crackdown by police—at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. (The eighth defendant, Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, was severed from the case ... Read More -
Episode 5: Kramer v. Kramer & Marriage Story (Guest: Solangel Maldonado)
Kramer v. Kramer (1979) and Marriage Story (2019) reflect major shifts in the legal and social landscape around marriage, divorce, and child custody over the last four decades. Kramer v. Kramer, written and directed by Robert Benton, and starring Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, and Jane Alexander, captured the zeitgeist of its era, becoming the top grossing film of 1979 and sweeping the Oscars; Marriage Story, written and directed by Noah Baumbach, and starring Adam Driver, Scarlet Johansson, Laura Dern, Alan Alda, and Ray Liotta, offers a gripping depiction of the ... Read More -
Episode 6: 12 Angry Men (Guest: Elkan Abramowitz)
12 Angry Men (1957) remains one of the greatest courtroom dramas. Directed by Sidney Lumet from a screenplay by Reginald Rose, the film stars Henry Fonda as the hold-out juror among his peers who are ready to quickly convict a teenager charged with murder in a New York court. Through a series of dramatic moments, Fonda eventually persuades his fellow jurors that there remains a reasonable doubt about the defendant’s innocence, forcing them to address their own preconceptions and prejudices in the process. Fonda (who coproduced the film), teams up ... Read More -
Episode 7: Judgment at Nuremberg (Guest: Kevin Jon Heller)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) depicts the trial of Nazi judges before the U.S. military tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany, following World War II. The film was directed by Stanley Kramer from a screenplay by Abbie Mann; it features a sensational cast that includes Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Maximilian Schell (who won an Oscar for best actor), Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift, and William Shatner. The film provides a gripping account of the “Judges’ Trial” or "Justice Case" (as it has become known), exploring issues around individual and collective ... Read More -
Episode 8: Argentina, 1985 & Granito: How to Nail a Dictator (Guest: Rachel López)
This episode examines Argentina, 1985 (2022) (directed by Santiago Mitre) and the documentary, Granito: How to Nail a Dictator (2011) (directed by Pamela Yates). Both works engage with questions of transitional justice, or how societies confront mass atrocities committed by a prior repressive regime. Argentina, 1985 depicts the Trial of the Juntas in Argentina, where a prosecution team led by Julio César Strassera (Ricardo Darín) and future-ICC chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo (Peter Lanzani), sought to bring leaders of Argentina’s former military dictatorship to justice for human rights abuses committed ... Read More -
Episode 9: Fruitvale Station (Guest: Michael Pinard)
Fruitvale Station (2013) is based on the real-life events leading to the death of Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old black man who was shot and killed by a Bay Area Rapid Transit officer on New Year’s Day 2009 at the Fruitvale district station in Oakland, California. The film depicts the final day in Oscar Grant’s life, interspersed with flashbacks from his past, which together provide a richly layered picture a young man whose life was tragically cut short. The film was written and directed by Ryan Coogler (in his first ... Read More -
Episode 10: My Cousin Vinny (Guest: Judge Jed S. Rakoff)
My Cousin Vinny (1992) tells the story of two college students from New York (played by Ralph Maccio and Mitchell Whitfield) who are mistakenly arrested and charged with the murder of a store clerk in Alabama. They turn to one of their cousins, Vincent (“Vinny”) LaGuardia Gambini, played by Joe Pesci, for help. Vinny is a personal injury lawyer from Brooklyn who is newly admitted to the bar and has virtually no experience. But somehow Vinny, with the assistance of his savvy fiancé Mona Lisa Vito, played by Marisa Tomei ... Read More -
Episode 11: The Mauritanian (Guests: Nancy Hollander & Mohamedou Ould Slahi)
The Mauritanian (2021) recounts Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s nightmare journey of secret rendition, torture, and detention at Guantanamo Bay—an odyssey that lasted 15 years, until Mr. Slahi was finally released in 2016, never having been charged with a crime. The film is based on the book, Guantanamo Diary, which Mr. Slahi wrote and had published while still a prisoner at Guantanamo. The book became a critically acclaimed international bestseller. The film was directed by Kevin Macdonald and features Tahar Rahim as Mohamedou Slahi, Jodie Foster as Nancy Hollander, Mr. Slahi’s lead ... Read More -
Episode 12: Michael Clayton (Guest: Peggy McGuinness)
The title character in Michael Clayton is a “fixer” for a prominent New York City law firm. Michael Clayton (George Clooney) helps the firm’s managing partner Marty Bach (Sidney Pollack) and his colleagues navigate tricky situations for the firm’s wealthy clients, while seeking to manage challenges in his own personal and family life. The firm’s top litigator, Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson) discovers that one of the firm’s major clients, U-North, knew that its weed killer was carcinogenic and caused hundreds of deaths. When Arthur threatens to blow the whistle, U-North's ... Read More -
Episode 13: The Rack (1956) & The Manchurian Candidate (1962) (Guest: Lisa Hajjar)
The Rack (1956), directed by Arnold Laven and written by Rod Serling (originally for television) tells the story of a decorated war hero Captain Edward W. Hall, Jr. (played by Paul Newman), who returns home after being captured and held prisoner in the Korean War. While a POW, Hall was subjected to mental torture and collaborated with his captors. Hall is court-martialed; his attorney (Lt Col. Frank Wasnick, played by Edmond O’Brien) tries to justify his conduct by showing the pressure he was under. Hall, however, is found guilty because ... Read More -
Episode 14: Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Guest: Alexa Kolbi-Molinas)
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020) centers on the struggles faced by 17-year-old Autumn Callahan (Sidney Flanigan) to obtain an abortion after learning that she’s pregnant. Autumn travels from her small town in central Pennsylvania to New York City, where she seeks to obtain the abortion, accompanied by her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder). Autumn and Skylar must overcome a series of obstacles and persevere in what is ultimately a traumatizing experience. Written and directed by Eliza Hittman, the film was released in the twilight of the Roe/Casey era, the nearly 50-year ... Read More -
Episode 15: Courted (L'Hermine) (France) (Guests: Fred Davis & Sam Bettwy)
Courted (French: L'Hermine), a 2015 French drama directed by Christian Vincent, is centered around a criminal trial in France. The accused, Martial Beclin (Victor Pontecorvo), is charged with manslaughter, which carries a possible twenty-year prison sentence, for allegedly kicking his seven-month-old daughter to death. The trial is conducted in France’s cour d’assises, which hears more serious crimes. The president and senior judge, Michel Racine (Fabrice Luchini), runs a tight ship. Courted offers valuable insights into judges, jurors, and criminal procedure in France, and provides a vehicle to compare criminal trials ... Read More -
Episode 16: Indiana Jones Trilogy (Guest: Lucas Lixinski)
This episode explores the iconic Indiana Jones trilogy, some of the most popular and well-known movies of all time. The trilogy consists of the first three movies in the series: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981); Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984); and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). The films are based on a story by George Lucas and directed by Steven Spielberg. They feature archaeologist (and adventurer) Dr. Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) as he travels across the world in the years before World War II ... Read More
