Saturday, March 9, 2024

POLITICO Nightly: The Oscars go to court

 

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BY ANKUSH KHARDORI

Presented by Feeding America

German actress Sandra Hüller attends the Oscar Nominees Luncheon in Beverly Hills, Calif.

German actress Sandra Hüller attends the Oscar Nominees Luncheon in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Feb. 12, 2024. | Valeria Macon/AFP via Getty Images

MOVIE NIGHT — On Sunday, you’ll be able to take a break from a particularly fractious year in American politics with the 96th Academy Awards, which will air on ABC with hosting duties handled by Jimmy Kimmel.

The “Barbenheimer” phenomenon has driven a good year for mass entertainment and much of the narrative surrounding this year’s slate of nominees . But for those who are interested in something very different and perhaps more challenging, there are two other films that are up for Best Picture this year that offer distinctive and discomforting approaches to exploring how legal systems work — or not.

We are inundated these days with news about high-profile legal proceedings — mostly but not entirely relating to Donald Trump — and with commentary about how they can, will or should unfold. But two nominees this year illuminate aspects of the law that we don’t really talk about.

They each provide fresh and innovative ways of approaching difficult questions about our legal systems that, in their own ways, may be relevant to American politics this year.

Both films are effectively centered around Sandra Hüller , a German actress who offers two performances that are each remarkable in their own right. (Modest spoilers follow.)

In Anatomy of a Fall , Hüller plays Sandra Voyter, a writer in a remote French town whose husband dies after falling from an open window in their house’s attic. Shortly thereafter, prosecutors charge Voyter with homicide, claiming that she killed him after an argument. Her defense is that it was suicide.

As the trial unfolds over the course of the movie, evidence slowly mounts on both sides of the ledger — guilty or innocent — and the motives and veracity of key witnesses become increasingly uncertain. It turns out that Voyter’s husband suffered a head injury before he hit the ground. At trial, prosecutors introduce an audio recording of an ugly fight between the couple that exposes deep personal and professional resentments between the two. We eventually hear the sound of violence, but it is unclear what is unfolding: Are we listening to a desperate man on the brink of taking his own life, or an attack by his wife that suggests she later killed him?

The couple’s son, who is visually impaired, features prominently. His testimony ultimately proves decisive, but by the end of the film, it is still far from clear whether Voyter is guilty. We do not get the sort of final reveal or flashback that often closes a legal procedural or courtroom drama .

A good deal of commentary around the film has understandably focused on some rather counterintuitive features of the French legal system, but there are a couple of other reasons to check this movie out. The film effectively portrays the process of storytelling that happens even in courtrooms — and of how lawyers adapt in the moment to unplanned revelations that force them to change course.

Even more importantly, the film poses a difficult but essential question about the limits of the law. We look to the courts — and often to criminal prosecutors — to provide us with closure, but what happens when the legal system doesn’t give us the resolution or the answers that we want? The scenario is more common than we might like to admit — and one that is worth keeping in mind this year .

The second film is a far more difficult one — and it is decidedly not for everyone.

In The Zone of Interest Hüller plays Hedwig Höss, whose husband, Rudolf, runs the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust. The film depicts the couple’s daily life with their children in a home that is located on the other side of a wall that separates them from incessant and unspeakable human suffering.

Rudolf runs a murder factory whose machinery is largely kept off-camera . Hedwig runs a household using labor from captives that is depicted in exacting and stomach-churning detail. Steven Spielberg, who directed Schindler’s List , called it “the best Holocaust movie I’ve witnessed since my own,” but this one has no heroes.

A pivotal scene in the movie depicts a domestic argument between the couple. Hedwig has just learned that the family may have to leave their home as a result of a transfer order for Rudolf, but she finds the prospect unbearable after creating a comfortable life in what, to her, is an idyllic setting for her and her children. (As it happens, a conversation like this may actually have happened in real life.)

Hedwig makes the case for staying but also styles her decision as an effort to follow the country’s leaders. “Everything the Führer said about how to live,” she tells Rudolf, “is how we do.” It’s a chilling line that underscores how our legal systems and political leaders can structure and influence our preferences , our aspirations and perhaps even our own sense of morality, or at least how those things can be used to justify unforgivable behavior.

The Zone of Interest is formally bracing and offers a unique approach toward examining how it is that anyone could possibly justify participating in the mass slaughter of other human beings, but it may also present a different type of genre.

It’s not a political or legal thriller; we know how the history unfolds. It’s a legal tragedy — a story about what happens when the law has lost any moral content, and about what happens when a legal system comprehensively fails to provide anything approximating true justice.

Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s author at akhardori@politico.com .

 

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By increasing TEFAP funding in the farm bill, Congress has the power to help us begin to end hunger. Learn more.

 
WHAT'D I MISS?

— U.S. employers add a surprisingly strong 275,000 jobs in sign of continued economic strength: America’s employers delivered another healthy month of hiring in February , adding a surprising 275,000 jobs and again showcasing the U.S. economy’s resilience in the face of high interest rates. Last month’s job growth was up from a revised gain of 229,000 jobs in January. The unemployment rate ticked up two-tenths of a point to 3.9% but was still the 25th straight month in which it has remained below 4%.

— Republicans demand immigration votes ahead of midnight shutdown cliff: Senate leaders are scrapping over a deal to pass a six-bill funding package as a partial government shutdown looms just after midnight thanks to GOP demands for votes on tricky immigration issues and nixing earmarks. Republican senators are seeking votes on multiple amendments, including one particularly problematic request from Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.). His proposal would ensure undocumented immigrants aren’t counted toward the population when divvying up congressional seats.

— U.S. once considered a program to reverse-engineer alien spacecraft, Pentagon report reveals: The Pentagon has disclosed that the government once considered a program to recover and reverse-engineer any captured alien spacecraft , an effort that never came to fruition but fueled conspiracy theories about a cover-up. The Defense Department today released a public version of a congressionally ordered comprehensive review of classified U.S. government programs since 1945 that debunked decades of speculation about UFOs, saying it found no evidence of extraterrestrial activity or efforts to withhold information from Congress.

NIGHTLY ROAD TO 2024

FULL STEAM AHEAD — The centrist political organization No Labels voted today to move forward with its presidential ticket , according to a virtual meeting the group held with its delegates.

But an official with the group acknowledged during the gathering, a recording of which was shared with POLITICO, that they currently do not have a candidate and may not find one.

The call, which was a virtual gathering of more than 600 delegates, was directed by Mike Rawlings, a Democratic former mayor of Dallas. “We don’t have a candidate,” Rawlings said, “and it’s possible, in the end, we won’t find a suitable candidate.”

ROLLOUT — Coming off of the president’s forceful State of the Union, senior Biden campaign officials today rolled out a $30 million ad buy and new campaign travel stops . The announcements were designed to drive home the aggressive posture Biden is adopting as the general election contest with former President Donald Trump begins.

In what it has dubbed a “Month of Action,” the Biden campaign announced that the president, Vice President Kamala Harris, first lady Jill Biden and second gentlemen Doug Emhoff will stump in every battleground state in March, kicking off with Biden’s events in Pennsylvania and Georgia today and Saturday. Biden will also appear in New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Michigan next week, while Harris will head to Arizona and Nevada. The campaign is also hiring 350 new staffers and opening 100 campaign offices across swing states over the next month.

SOTU BLOWBACK — President Joe Biden faced disappointment and anger from some allies today for calling the suspect in the killing of a Georgia nursing student an “illegal” during his State of the Union speech, reports the Associated Press. Other Democrats backed him as better on immigration issues than former President Donald Trump, his likely rival in November’s election. The moment occurred during an exchange in which Biden pressed Republicans to pass a bipartisan border security deal that fell apart after Trump opposed it.


MAGA GOP LOVE THEIR DICTATORS!
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SUPPORT! 

STRONGMEN — Former President Donald Trump was scheduled to meet with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán today , as the likely Republican presidential nominee continues his embrace of autocratic leaders who are part of a global pushback against democratic traditions, reports the Associated Press.

Orbán has become an icon to some conservative populists for championing what he calls “illiberal democracy,” replete with restrictions on immigration and LGBTQ+ rights. But he’s also cracked down on the press and judiciary in his country and rejiggered the country’s political system to keep his party in power while maintaining the closest relationship with Russia among all European Union countries.

AROUND THE WORLD

French President Emmanuel Macron, waves to reporters.

French President Emmanuel Macron waves to reporters as he waits for Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. | Thibault Camus/AP

EXPORTING RIGHTS — French President Emmanuel Macron wants the right to abortion to be enshrined in the European Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights , POLITICO EU reports.

“Today is not the end of the story. It is the start of a fight,” Macron said today. “We’re going to lead this fight in our continent, in our Europe, where reactionary forces are attacking women’s rights before attacking the rights of minorities, the oppressed.”

Macron delivered his remarks at a ceremony celebrating Monday’s vote to enshrine the freedom to have an abortion in France’s constitution — the first country in the world to do so.

CASH CRUNCH — The Czech Republic has raised enough money to buy only 300,000 rounds of ammunition for Ukraine — not 800,000 as previously suggested by the country’s president, POLITICO EU reports

“We have managed to raise enough money to buy the first batch of 300,000 artillery shells. However, our goal is to deliver much more!: Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala posted on X, contradicting an earlier statement by President Petr Pavel.

On Thursday, Pavel told journalists that his country secured enough money to buy 800,000 artillery shells outside the EU for ammunition-starved Ukraine.

Overall, 18 countries have agreed to finance the purchases within the Czech-led initiative. While some governments — including from Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands — have announced actual financial commitments, others, such as France and Germany, haven’t provided exact figures.

 

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NIGHTLY NUMBER

$91.6 million

The size of a bond that former President Donald Trump obtained which will prevent E. Jean Carroll from immediately enforcing an $83.3 million defamation verdict while Trump appeals the verdict. Trump said in court papers today that he has secured the bond, which is higher than the verdict itself because it covers interest.

RADAR SWEEP

‘ABUNDANCE MINDSET’ — What are you supposed to eat while your novel is about to be published? It’s not exactly a universal question, but it’s also a surprisingly perplexing one — are you celebrating with a glass or two of champagne? Trying to stay trim for any potential interviews or press related to the publication? In this week’s Grub Street Diet, writer and critic at The New Yorker Vinson Cunningham takes readers into his week, framed through food. We get to see what he’s eating but a lot more than that; the piece becomes a reflection on consumption, nerves, grief and building a life .

PARTING IMAGE

On this date in 1991: Troops from the U.S. Army's 1st Calvary Division celebrate their impending departure from Saudi Arabia in a hanger at Dhahran airport at the end of the Gulf War. Units from the 1st Calvary left Saudi Arabia and headed home to Ft. Hood in Texas.

On this date in 1991: Troops from the U.S. Army's 1st Calvary Division celebrate their impending departure from Saudi Arabia in a hanger at Dhahran airport at the end of the Gulf War. Units from the 1st Calvary left Saudi Arabia and headed home to Ft. Hood in Texas. | Bob Jordan/AP

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