Trial and tribulation

Photographer and documentarian Raymond Depardon was granted special permission to film inside a Parisian courtroom, and the result is riveting.

The star of the show is the fair but frightening Madame Justice Bernard-Requin, closely followed by the 12 eccentric defendants and their astonishing array of often incompetent lawyers.

Worth half a dozen features, not only for its skilfully put-together realism but also for its sheer entertainment. It's funny, sad and, as Madame hands the verdicts out, as tense as any thriller.

The 10th District Court
Cert: NC