Why did Medak
...Make the film?
(This is part of my coursework, people)
Do you think it was due to the injustice in teh case, or just for the sake of it?
Because it was a story that needed to be told, it was relevent then, and it's relevent now - not because of Bentley anymore, but because fit ups/miscarriages of justice happen now - especially when the police feel they are under pressure, in a high profile case to get a result and be seen as to do so.
I can think of one very high profile case today, where a clear miscarriage of justice has occured, and a patsy who fitted the bill has gone down for a crime he didn't commit, under the most shocking and flimsy evidence, where if the crime hadn't been as high profile as it was there would probably have never even charged this person let alone convicted him.
For that a film like this is relevent today - then and probably in the future, to teach you that you mightn't get justice at all.
Also it's a film about the times in which the story happened, edging as it was towards the end of the Death Penalty in Great Britain.
I have heared a theory that Ruth Ellis and Derek bentley were hanged in a twisted was by the Home Office (who maybe wanted to abolish the Death Penalty) but had to wait for the right time politically (remember botes our everything) to push forward for abolition of the death penalty.
Having cases like Ruth and Derek were brilliant ploys to generate enough opposition to the DP without sacrificing politically.sad, but very possibly true