Film Review: West of Memphis (15) (New Zealand/U.S.A. 2012) (Director: Amy Berg) Monday 18.02.2013 20:15 The Filmhouse Cinema Screen Two, Edinburgh 

This is a documentary about the case of the 'West Memphis Three', who in 1994, were tried and sentenced for the gruesome murders of three eight year old boys, despite there being no evidence to convict upon. This case has been documented previously by the likes of the 'Paradise Lost' documentary trilogy, which although did an important job of keeping the case in public awareness also had a tendency to meander and loose focus. Despite this being a long film at two and a half hours, it has a far better sense of focus and clarity. By focusing upon what was not handled as it should have been in the case including evidence that was ignored, the film gives a very good overview of  the 18 year period since the incident and subsequent trial. The film is not exactly balanced, though I think it would pretty much be impossible for this to be achieved given the circumstance.

This film goes beyond the Paradise Lost films in getting the elected persons who would benefit from the final outcome to speak on camera and by their words show themselves to lack any morality in regard to any persons directly concerned with this case; the wrongly convicted, the real perpetrator(s), the victims and their families. Any anger I find to be tempered by the calm presence of the three wrongly convicted, none of whom ever appear to even come close to negativity.

Although I already knew what happened with this case, the film was an engrossing watch, well composed and considerably better than the sprawling Paradise Lost. Amy Berg, who previously made the exemplary 'Deliver Us From Evil' about the accusations of pedophilia in the Catholic Church in the United States, is clearly very skilled at documenting very complex matters in a clear and concise manner. I could not recommend this highly enough for people who are interested in miscarriages of justice. I cannot find fault with this film.

Rating: 10/10.