L’ Avocat de la Terreur (Terror’s Advocate) (2007)
79%RT Audience Score: 66%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 2 Oscars
5 wins & 33 nominations total
Terror’s Advocate is a fascinating portrayal of a controversial political figure; both morally unsettling and emotionally gripping
Terror’s Advocate is like a real-life James Bond movie, but instead of a suave spy, we get a smug and conceited lawyer who defends some of the most notorious terrorists in history. Jacques Vergès is a fascinating figure, and the documentary does a great job of showing his complex and often contradictory character. It’s both thrilling and disturbing to see how he manipulated his humanistic sympathies to defend people with agendas of horror. The interviews with key figures in Vergès’ career and the grainy historical footage make for a gripping non-fiction international thriller. And let’s be real, Vergès makes every lawyer joke you’ve ever heard seem eminently fair.
Production Company(ies)
Jalem Productions,
Distributor
Magnolia Pictures
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Middletown, Ohio, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for language throughout, drug content and some violence
Year of Release
2007
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Atmos
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:2h 18m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 12, 2007 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 19, 2008
Genre(s)
Documentary
Keyword(s)
Terror’s Advocate, documentary, Jacques Verges, lawyer, Free French Forces, war criminals, Holocaust, Barbet Schroeder, Rita Dagher, Jorge Arriagada, Caroline Champetier, Jean-Luc Perréard, Magnolia Pictures, Dolby, English, $46.8K, reviewed by Richard Brody, Melissa Anderson, Geoff Pevere, Jason McBride, Moira MacDonald, Mark Feeney, Kaleem Aftab, John Powers, Pablo Villaça, Dennis Schwartz, directed by Barbet Schroeder, produced by Rita Dagher, starring Jacques Verges
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Rita Dagher – Producer
Jorge Arriagada – Original Music
Caroline Champetier – Cinematographer
Jean-Luc Perréard – Cinematographer
Director(s)
Barbet Schroeder
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
NA
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 2 Oscars
5 wins & 33 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (46) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (40) | Rotten (6)
The story Schroeder unfolds is also his own-that of a generation that had its humanistic sympathies manipulated by unscrupulous people with agendas of horror.
January 2, 2019
Richard Brody
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
November 17, 2011 | Rating: 4/5
Melissa Anderson
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
The movie functions crackingly well as a non-fiction international thriller.
November 16, 2007 | Rating: 3/4
Geoff Pevere
Toronto Star
TOP CRITIC
The lawyer’s intense isolation, his solitary, perverse rage against the world, against France, against conventional opinion, is felt most deeply.
November 16, 2007 | Rating: 3.5/4
Jason McBride
Globe and Mail
TOP CRITIC
Schroeder’s film, which combines interviews with many of the key figures in Vergs’ career with grainy historical footage, lets its subject speak for itself but leaves little doubt of where the filmmaker stands.
November 9, 2007 | Rating: 3/4
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times
TOP CRITIC
For just a moment, ignore politics. Consider Jacques Vergs simply as star. The radical French lawyer is an absolutely compelling figure onscreen: exotic, resolute, beguilingly smug.
November 9, 2007 | Rating: 3.5/4
Mark Feeney
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
Terror’s Advocate is a history lesson in modern insurgency and terrorism paranoia without ever being lecturing at any point. The conceited Vergès is always entertaining and clearly loves his own notoriety in this engrossing film.
November 4, 2018 | Rating: 4/5
Kaleem Aftab
The List
Makes every lawyer joke you’ve ever heard seem eminently fair.
May 17, 2018
John Powers
NPR’s Fresh Air
This movie is packed with so much glamour and carnage you won’t believe it’s a documentary about one man.
August 22, 2017
Annie Wagner
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
Ainda que falhe em decifrar seu complexo protagonista, o documentrio estabelece um intrigante retrato de um homem cujos princpios morais e ideolgicos eventualmente se tornam to flexveis quanto o espectro alcanado por sua clientela.
February 28, 2009 | Rating: 4/5
Pablo Villaça
Cinema em Cena
At its best, the documentary shows us an unsavory character answering a bunch of softball questions and whose best logic is to play the Third World race card.
January 23, 2009 | Rating: B-
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
May 19, 2008 | Rating: 3.5/5
Jennie Kermode
Eye for Film…
Plot
Terror’s Advocate is a documentary about Jacques Verges, a controversial lawyer who defends war criminals and Holocaust deniers, and the moral and emotional complexities of his work.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels doesn’t provide any goofy or funny comments about the film Terror’s Advocate.
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