%20(1).jpg)
Law on Film
Law on Film explores the rich connections between law and film. Law is critical to many films, even to those that are not obviously about the legal world. Film, meanwhile, tells us a lot about the law, especially how it is perceived and portrayed. The podcast is created and hosted by Jonathan Hafetz, a lawyer, legal scholar, and film buff. Each episode, Jonathan and a guest expert will examine a film that is noteworthy from a legal perspective. What does the film get right about the law and what does it get wrong? Why is law important to understanding the film? And what does the film teach about law's relationship to the larger society and culture that surrounds it. Whether you're interested in law, film, or an entertaining discussion, there will be something here for you.
Episodes
43 episodes
Ali (2001) (Guest: Dave Zirin) (episode 41)
Muhammad Ali is widely recognized as one of the greatest athletes of all-time and one of the most important figures of the 20th century. In addition to his long and celebrated career as a boxer and three-time heavyweight champion of the world, ...
•
50:16
%20(1).jpg)
Syriana (2005) (Guest: Peggy McGuinness) (episode 40)
Syriana is a 2005 geopolitical thriller written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, based loosely on former CIA case officer Robert Baer’s memoir, See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism. ...
•
1:08:01
The Goldman Case (2023) (Guest: Fred Davis) (episode 39)
The Goldman Case (Le Procès Goldman) (2023), is a French courtroom drama based on the real-life 1976 trial of Pierre Goldman, a far-left Jewish militant who was accused of multiple armed robberies and four murders during a hol...
•
44:50
Mr. Untouchable (2007) (Guest: Robert B. Fiske) (episode 38)
Mr. Untouchable, a 2007 documentary directed by Marc Levin, describes the rise and fall of former New York City drug kingpin, Leroy (“Nicky”) Barnes. In the early 1970s, Barnes formed “The Council,” an organized crime syndicat...
•
42:28
First They Killed My Father (2017) and The Gate (2014) (Guest: Melanie O'Brien) (episode 37)
This episode looks at two films about the Cambodian genocide of the 1970s: First They Killed My Father (dir. Angelina Jolie), and The Gate (or Les Temps des Aveux) (dir. Régis Wargnier). First They Killed My Fathe...
•
1:18:15
Matewan (1989) (Guest: Fred B. Jacob) (episode 36)
Matewan (written and directed by John Sayles) dramatizes the events of the Battle of Matewan, a coal miners’ strike in 1920 in a small town in the hills of West Virginia. In the film, Joe Kenehan (Chris Cooper, in his film debut), an e...
•
1:05:47
Minamata: The Victims and Their World (1971) & Minamata (2020) (Guest: Darryl Flaherty) (episode 35)
This episode looks at two films that examine the environmental disaster in Minamata, Japan: Noriaki Tsuchimoto’s documentary, Minamata: The Victims and the World (1971), and Andre Levitas’s Minamata (2020), a Hollywood feature...
•
1:07:25
Black Hawk Down (Guest: Greg Fox) (episode 34)
Black Hawk Down (2001) describes the plight of the U.S. crew of a Black Hawk helicopter that is shot down during the Battle of Mogadishu during the civil war in Somalia in October 1993. The battle resulted in the death of 18 American s...
•
58:57
A Separation (Iran) (2011) (Guest: Golbarg Rekabtalaei) (episode 33)
A Separation (2011) is an Iranian drama written and directed by Asghar Farhadi. The film depicts the martial separation between a middle-class couple, Nadar (Peyman Moaadi) and his wife Simin (Leila Hatami). Simin wants the family to l...
•
51:15
Bridge of Spies (Guests: Lenni Benson & Jeffrey Kahn) (episode 32)
This episode explores Bridge of Spies (2015), the Cold War legal and political thriller directed by Steven Spielberg (and written by Matt Charman, Ethan Coen, and Joel Coen). The film is based on the true story of American attorney Jam...
•
1:22:19
Chinatown (1974) (Guest: John Walton) (episode 31)
Chinatown (1974) is a neo-noir crime thriller, directed by Roman Polanski from a screenplay by Robert Towne. Based loosely on the Owens Valley water wars in Los Angeles from the early twentieth century, the film follows private investi...
•
47:00
The Verdict (1982) (Guest: John "Rusty" Wing) (episode 30)
The Verdict (1982) tells the story of down-on-his-luck Boston lawyer, Frank Galvin (Paul Newman). Galvin had been a rising star until he was framed for jury tampering by a partner at his elite Boston law firm because he planned to...
•
1:11:47
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) (Guest: Alka Pradhan) (episode 29)
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) centers on the plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England, the arrest and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (Elizabeth’s cousin), and King Phillip II of Spain’s attempt to topple Elizabeth and ins...
•
51:04
The Sweet Hereafter (1997) (Guest: Seán Patrick Donlan) (episode 28)
This episode explores Atom Egoyan's 1997 film, The Sweet Hereafter, which describes the impact of a tragic school bus accident that caused the death of 14 children on a small Canadian town. The film is based on Russell Banks’ 1991 nove...
•
53:10
Absence of Malice (1981) (Guest: Brian Hauss) (episode 27)
This episode examines Absence of Malice, a 1981 drama directed by Sidney Pollack. After Miami-based newspaper reporter Megan Carter (Sally Field) is tipped off by Justice Department organized crime strike force chief Elliot Rosen (Bob ...
•
56:58
Inherit the Wind (1960) (Guest Nell Minow) (episode 26)
Inherit the Wind (1960) is a fictionalized account of the 1925 Scopes “Monkey Trial," where a local teacher is prosecuted for teaching about human evolution in public school in violation of state law. The film was directed by Stanley K...
•
40:13
The Caine Mutiny (1954) & The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023) (Guest: Gene Fidell) (episode 25)
The Caine Mutiny (1954) is based on Herman Wouk’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel of the same name. The film, directed by Edward Dmytryk and produced by Stanley Kramer, portrays the fictitious events on board the U.S.S. Caine, a ...
•
54:50
Miracle on 34th Street and Top Law Movies List (Guest: Ashley Merryman) (episode 24)
This episode looks at “Law Films You Won't Want to Miss,” a recent list of "the most captivating legal themed movies," published in U.S. News and World Report. Which movies are on the list? Which didn't make the cut? And what doe...
•
58:10
Eight Men Out (1988) (Guests: Robert Boland and Brett Kaufman) (episode 23)
Eight Men Out (1988) is a dramatization of professional baseball’s infamous Black Sox scandal, in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox conspired with gamblers to intentionally lose the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. ...
•
57:55
Anatomy of a Fall (France) (Guests: Fred Davis and Sam Bettwy) (episode 22)
Anatomy of a Fall (2023) is an acclaimed French drama directed by Justine Triet, from a screenplay she co-wrote with her real-life partner, Arthur Harari. The movie centers on the criminal trial of a writer (Sandra Hüeller) who is accu...
•
54:55
Killers of the Flower Moon (Guest: Wilson Pipestem) (episode 21)
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) describes the series of murders of members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma in the early 1920s. Because tribal members retained mineral rights on their reservation, they became extraordinarily wealthy a...
•
1:01:17
Oppenheimer (Guest: Audra Wolfe) (episode 20)
Oppenheimer (2023) stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist known as the “father of the atomic bomb” for his role as director of the Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II . The film was writ...
•
1:07:26
Eye in the Sky (Guest: Craig Martin) (episode 19)
Eye in the Sky (2015), directed by Gavin Hood from a script by Guy Hibbert, depicts the operation of a multinational team aimed at high-level operatives from the Al-Shabaab terrorist group in Nairobi, Kenya. When the British army learn...
•
1:06:52
Norma Rae (Guest: Fred B. Jacob) (episode 18)
Norma Rae (1979) describes the struggle of Norma Rae Webster (Sally Field), a factory worker with limited education, to unionize a textile mill in North Carolina. The film was directed by Martin Ritt from a screenplay by Irving Ravetch...
•
1:11:15
A Civil Action (Guest: Jennifer Corinis) (episode 17)
A Civil Action (1998) is based on Jonathan Harr’s critically acclaimed book of the same name. Written and directed by Steve Zaillian, the film starts John Travolta, and features supporting performances by Robert Duvall (who was nominat...
•
1:10:46