Court (2015)
89%RT Audience Score: 79%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Court takes a penetrating, timely look at issues facing Indian society while serving as an excellent calling card for debuting writer-director Chaitanya Tamhane
Court is like a fly on the wall, but not just any fly – a fly with a keen eye, keen hearing, and a keen intelligence. This film is a fiendishly clever debut feature that takes the courtroom drama to new heights. It’s perceptive, powerful, and delivers a devastating critique of India’s justice system. But don’t worry, it’s not all doom and gloom – there are also compelling performances, infectious songs, and even a bit of humor. Overall, Court is a beautiful and brilliant film that will leave you thinking long after the credits roll.
Production Company(ies)
Paranoid Pictures,
Distributor
Zeitgeist Films
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
TV-PG
Year of Release
2015
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:1h 55m
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Language(s):
-
Country of origin:India
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jul 15, 2015 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 14, 2018
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
Court, drama, Marathi, Chaitanya Tamhane, Vivek Gomber, written by Chaitanya Tamhane, starring Vira Sathidar, Narayan Kamble, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Pradeep Joshi, Usha Bane, Shirish Pawar, directed by Chaitanya Tamhane, Zeitgeist Films, box office gross $16.5K, critic reviews, reviewed by Nigel Andrews, Tara Brady, Sophie Monks Kaufman, Mike McCahill, Deborah Ross, Kevin Maher, Kong Rithdee, Kanishk Devgan, Dustin Chang, Nicholas Bell, David Walsh, Siddhant Adlakha, MPAA rating, social activist, folk music, sewage worker’s suicide, lawyers, trial, Indian society, calling card, timely, penetrating, ideologies, rote, scrutinized, grimly compelling, devastating critique, justice system, Kafkaesque, incisive, authentic, judicial drama, censorship laws, broken courts
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
Vivek Gomber – Vinay Vora
Geetanjali Kulkarni – Public Prosecutor
Pradeep Joshi – Judge
Usha Bane – Sharmila Pawar
Shirish Pawar – Subodh
Director(s)
Chaitanya Tamhane
Writer(s)
Chaitanya Tamhane
Producer(s)
Vivek Gomber
Film Festivals
Venice
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (61) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (60) | Rotten (1)
The film’s semblance of casualness is winning. It seems to make itself up as it goes along. But this fly on this wall has keen eyes, keen hearing, a keen intelligence.
December 28, 2016 | Rating: 4/5
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times
TOP CRITIC
Just when you imagined that the courtroom drama had no particular place left to go, along comes Chaitanya Tamhane’s fiendishly clever debut feature.
August 8, 2016 | Rating: 5/5
Tara Brady
Irish Times
TOP CRITIC
Perceptive and powerful.
March 25, 2016 | Rating: 4/5
Sophie Monks Kaufman
Little White Lies
TOP CRITIC
Here’s a film-maker training a sharp, prosecutorial eye on those harsh homefront realities Bollywood has traditionally permitted audiences to escape.
March 24, 2016 | Rating: 3/5
Mike McCahill
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
Court is fascinating, affecting and completely engrossing while delivering a devastating critique of a system so antiquated and absurd that a woman is told her case won’t be heard today because she is wearing a sleeveless top.
March 24, 2016
Deborah Ross
The Spectator
TOP CRITIC
Court is both a grimly compelling legal drama and a devastating attack on India’s seemingly outmoded justice system.
March 24, 2016 | Rating: 4/5
Kevin Maher
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
[It] speaks to us with range and depth…realistic, moving, humanist portraits of (pre-pandemic) India.
May 17, 2021
Kong Rithdee
Bangkok Post
Chaitanya Tamhane’s directorial feature debut (which he wrote too), proved to be a silent, observational, and devastating film.
March 29, 2021
Kanishk Devgan
Film Companion
All the performances are stellar, considering many of them are non-actors. In the heart of it all is Vira Sathida. A real life activist, his rhythmic, infectious, biting songs come to life whenever he performs. I would love to see him perform for hours.
February 14, 2021
Dustin Chang
Floating World
Compelling performances from both professional and non-professional cast members help paint an indelibly human face on the type of predicament generally referred to as Kafkaesque.
August 25, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/5
Nicholas Bell
IONCINEMA.com
A beautiful and brilliant film from India. The objectivity and confidence of his fictional work, which follows the various participants in their daily lives, is astonishing for a filmmaker only 27 years old.
July 8, 2020
David Walsh
World Socialist Web Site
An incisive upending of the nexus between legalese and tradition, Chaitanya Tamhane’s authentic judicial drama gets into the cogs of India’s censorship laws and their overlap with India’s broken courts (and the people who keep them broken).
December 19, 2019
Siddhant Adlakha
The Juggernaut…
Plot
In Court, a social activist is arrested and put on trial for allegedly inciting a sewage worker’s suicide, leading to a scrutiny of the lawyers and ideologies involved in the case.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film features a mix of professional and non-professional actors, including real-life activist Vira Sathidar.
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