bdc03 Says:
Mar 5, 2008 - Actually, the biggest wiping out of peoples happened to the Americans not to the Jews in Germany. I'm not downplaying the Holocaust it was a terrible thing, but the Indians suffered far worse.
bigleroygym Says:
Mar 15, 2008 - No, actually you ARE downplaying the Holocaust. Shame on you and all racists like you.
bdc03 Says:
Mar 15, 2008 - How does stating a fact make me a racist. That's really funny considering Judaism isn't a race.
ninamusz Says:
Mar 26, 2008 - you're right, it wasn't the worst crime in mankind. indians have been massacred and opressed for years. and the jews? actually, poland lost the most people in percentage - a fifth of the country died! one in five people. it wasn't that simple (the evil germans killed many jews and this was the worst thing in mankind). it's part of an enormous - not just big - picture.
bdc03 Says:
Mar 27, 2008 - There were like 300 million indians in america before the "white man" came by the endo the 1800's there were 800k
kazzielou Says:
Mar 30, 2008 - what is maximilian schell ripping up? and why?
mark1mod0 Says:
Apr 5, 2008 - As he completes each topic he wants to question the witness on, he tears up the sheet of paper concerning that topic, so that he can keep track of what he has asked and what he has left to ask. It's an organizational tool, like marking off a checklist, but it adds a little visual stimuli for the judges to notice.
SteveKaczynski Says:
Apr 18, 2008 - It is an organisational tool, but I do not think that is the only or even the main reason. I think he is trying to psychologically pressurise the witness - to treat his testimony like waste paper to be torn up and discarded. And yes, the judges are supposed to notice too.
SteveKaczynski Says:
Apr 18, 2008 - This scene is actually Rolfe's best courtroom performance. Dr. Wieck is a strong witness, but by bringing up the oath Rolfe does not exactly demolish him but does weaken his testimony. Only at the end does Rolfe succumb to his own weakness, a tendency to persecute hostile witnesses, as he will also do with Clift's and Garland's characters.
odious34 Says:
Apr 21, 2008 - Wow! That defense counsel kicked the witness' ass!
SteveKaczynski Says:
Apr 21, 2008 - I wouldn't go so far as that, but he definitely weakens his testimony, and unless Lawson already had testimony from actual victims in mind already, this episode might have convinced him that he needed such witnesses because Dr Wieck's testimony alone might not be enough to get people like Jannings convicted.
flashpod Says:
Apr 22, 2008 - Schell earned his oscar with this scene. Every serious actor should study him in this film.
SteveKaczynski Says:
Apr 29, 2008 - Rolfe is generally good at the demonstrative stuff to impress the judges and intimidate the witness - note also how he snaps the book shut after quoting Oliver Wendell Holmes' opinion.
bdc03 Says:
Mar 5, 2008 - Actually, the biggest wiping out of peoples happened to the Americans not to the Jews in Germany. I'm not downplaying the Holocaust it was a terrible thing, but the Indians suffered far worse.