Verdict: Not Guilty poster
Film · 1933 · 9m

Verdict: Not Guilty

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Synopsis

Part religious allegory and part church pageant, it presents the heavenly trial of a woman who has died giving childbirth out of wedlock. The jailer wears a mask death's head mask and a nun's habit with a skull and crossbones on the front and God sits on an altar, flanked by angels, while the devil attempts to convict the woman for her sins. Shot with a handheld camera that doesn't always remain steady or keep the scene in frame, it is full of religious imagery and evocative folkloric elements, with flashbacks to the woman's life that provide a realism in sharp contrast to the allegorical pageantry. It shows its amateur origins, the texture, the pageantry, and the allegorical and ritualistic elements also looks forward to the American Underground cinema of Kenneth Anger, Curtis Harrington, and others in the 1950s and 1960s.

Details

Director
Eloyce Gist, James Gist
Release
January 1, 1933
Status
Released
Country
United States of America
Runtime
9m

View on IMDb

Where to watch

Stream
  • Criterion Channel

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