IT’S OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM ON TRIAL
» Sheridan reveals his latest movie is to focus on new murder suspect » Screen veteran will portray a juror in his 12 Angry Men homage
DIRECTOR Jim Sheridan said his upcoming film on the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier will “castigate the Irish legal system”.
The award-winning filmmaker will play the foreman of the jury in Re-creation, which will focus on a new suspect rather than Ian Bailey.
Sheridan, whose Sky documentary series Murder At The Cottage reignited public interest in the case, believes Bailey is innocent.
In the days after the Manchesterborn journalist collapsed and died of a heart attack on the street in Bantry, Cork, he said Bailey, 66, had suffered “27 years of persecution”.
The film, inspired by Sidney Lumet’s 12 Angry Men, introduces a fictional jury and will be unveiled to buyers at the European Film Market.
Sheridan, 75, said: “After the fivehour documentary [about Sophie’s murder], I was finished with it. I was out.
“But David Merriman, whom I met on a benefit to the homeless, reinvigorated my interest, he was so passionate about funding the truth.
“Also, having done In the Name of the Father, a movie which castigated the British legal system over its treatment of an innocent Irish man, I thought I should do a movie which castigated the Irish legal system with whom I believe to be an innocent Englishman.
“So I could balance the books before I depart this life.”
Critically-acclaimed In the Name of the Father tells of the miscarriage of justice against the Guilford Four, with Daniel Day-lewis playing the lead role of Gerry Conlon.
They were freed on appeal after spending almost two decades behind bars for an IRA bombing they had no knowledge of.
In an interview with Variety, Sheridan referenced Bailey, and said: “The big crime, the disgusting crime, if he didn’t do it...
“That’s inconceivable evil to me. Abusing the grief of people and saying ‘No, no, we solved it’.”
French filmmaker and mum-of-one Sophie, 39, was found bludgeoned to death close to her cottage near Schull, West Cork, on December 23, 1996.
Bailey quickly emerged as a key suspect in the case, though he was never charged.
A court in Paris found him guilty of the murder in absentia.
Attempts to have him extradited to France were overturned. Sheridan co-wrote and will co-direct the film with Merriman.
Actress Vicky Krieps plays jury member No 8 who Sheridan describes as “a kind of proxy for Sophie, a kind of voice for her in the film”.
He said: “I’m in the film as the
I thought I should do a movie which castigated the Irish legal system
foreman of the jury.
“There’s a lot of time when I’m on the floor and Dave is directing but then sometimes I would direct the actors.
it’s very fluid.
“There’s no sense of who’s in charge of what. Dave interacted a lot with the crew and camera. We had fun doing it together.”
Admitting the drama is not based strictly on the facts, he added: “There was a screenplay as guide and then there was some improvisation. Then consequent to shooting and editing, the film is finding its own legs and finding new avenues to explore.
“We’re exposing the prejudices of each jury member. True crime is about facts.
“Usually it’s about, well, the legal world is supposed to be about facts and evidence, and it’s not supposed to be about emotion.
“It’s supposed to reduce emotion out of the argument so people can decide in a kind of abstract way, what
Emotion plays a big part. I usually deal with emotion. True crime is about facts
the truth is. That never happens.
“Emotion plays a big part. I usually deal with emotion.
“The documentary was very constraining for me, so I needed to release myself and find the emotional truth of what I felt, which is this one.”
Sheridan said he believes Sophie was already dead before she was bashed 50 times with a rock in a laneway close to her remote holiday home. In the days after Bailey’s death gardai seized items from his flat in Bantry, reportedly in a bid to build a DNA profile linking him to the murder. A cold case review into the murder was ordered by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris almost two years ago – but Bailey was never questioned by the team. Re-creation is understood to be twothirds of the way through filming.
Hailing Sheridan as a “genius” Merriman added: “I think all Jim’s films are about the truth.
“If you look at In the Name of the Father, My Left Foot, The Field, these are all movies about trying to get to the truth.
“In the case of our film, a narrative has been created, particularly in the ‘90s, where the police and the media were intertwined and the media were reliant, in a pre-internet world on the police. A story got going and a story has endured through the years and half truths and misunderstandings and outright distortions at times have been made to make Ian Bailey look more guilty.”
Latido Films head Antonio Saura also described Sheridan as a “genius” and hailed his latest work as a “masterpiece”.
He said: “Jim and David have a personal obsession and know every detail of this trial case, and they will prove through fiction that mistakes were made in the ‘real’ trial.
“This is a trial film that hopes to undo the wrongs. Being witness to this unique process of re creation, to see how they work with the actors and the material to invent through fiction a new reality is an incredible satisfaction.
“I am sure Jim and David will deliver one of the best films of the year.”