Amanda Knox

Dir: Rod Blackhurst, Brian McGinn

2016

***

After ten years of many a film maker trying, Rod Blackhurst and Brian McGinn finally managed to persuade Amanda Knox to speak for the first time on camera about the murder of Meredith Kercher and her subsequent conviction. Knox explains step by step why she went to study in Italy in the first place, how she met boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, what she was doing on the night of the murder and speaks of the aftermath that propelled her into infamy. Also interviewed are; Raffaele Sollecito, who Knox had begun a relationship just a week before the murder; prosecutor Giuliano Mignini, who now revels in his god-like status in Perugia and opportunistic journalist/sensationalist Nick Pisa. All evidence aside, Knox was convicted and seen as guilty based on her temperament and behaviour. Understandable to a degree but being a bit odd does not make someone a murder. The same can be said for Sollecito, an awkward young man who fell head over heels for the young American. The idea that Knox had a spell over him isn’t unbelievable, whether it was enough to convince him of murder however is less so. The evidence was incredibly weak and that is why Knox and Sollecito were set free, no one’s story was beyond question but the subsequent DNA evidence was pretty conclusive. However, the case has now gone beyond fact. This was a trial by media. There are countless articles and books claiming to be factual and nearly every one of them is different from each other. Knox is a little bit odd, Sollecito is a broken man, Mignini has delusions of grandeur and Nick Pisa and the rest of the media refuse to admit to their interference in the case. Some of the headlines were shocking in their absurdity and in their sensationalism. Many of the stories printed have been proven to be lies but no one has admitted as much and the media hasn’t been held accountable. Guilty or not, the damage is done. Knox can’t really be trusted in what she says anymore because of all the silly things her 21 year old self said and what has been written of her but I would argue that Rudy Guede was less trustworthy. He admitted to killing Meredith alone and only changed his story once he realised that the attention was on Knox and that he could reduce his sentence. He was deemed an uninteresting criminal, he’ll serve his 16 years but essentially he got away with murder, his life will go back to normal and he will be forgotten. However, this film is about Knox, as indeed, the entire case was. The media became obsessed with her and the interview suggests that she herself has now become something of a made up character, a result of the attention she has received for the last decade. The film sticks to certain key details but doesn’t go into anything further, which is perhaps all they could do. The shocking incompetence and the bizarre misplaced national pride surrounding the case is explored and laid bare, even Mr ‘Fake news’ himself gets a look in. The whole thing was a grubby witch hunt with the media drooling over themselves with the thought of sexual deviancy, forgetting that a young girl had been raped and brutally murdered. If Knox is guilty then the media interference has let her free, if she’s innocent then the media have made sure she’ll never be free, either way a fair hearing was never given and the world is happy to judge her based of circumstantial evidence and unforgivable gossip alone. Everyone involved and everyone happy to waggle their tongues about it without full knowledge should be ashamed of themselves, and while Knox keeps the mystery surrounding herself alive, it is Mignini and Pisa who come off worse in this scenario. Mignini is a misogynistic fool who found himself way over his head. He loves the attention the case has brought him and shows himself for the idiot he is. Likewise, Pisa almost seems proud of the lies he spread during the case, excitedly boasting about how he was first to spread the falsehoods and point the finger at Knox. Knox’s shock and subsequent behaviour, without the support of legal representative, was horrendously misinterpreted and small town thinking became the global norm. Gut feeling and gossip has overtaken people’s opinions over testimony, investigation and scientific proof, but when the legal authorities behave in such a contemptible manner what hope is there. It reminds me of the Memphis Three case in many respects in that the legal team and courts are so stubborn and too proud to admit that they made mistakes that what should have been a relatively simple murder investigation turned into an unforgivable circus of sleaze and incompetence. Rod Blackhurst and Brian McGinn's film is no where near as compelling as Paradise Lost but they give the key players a voice, they lay down the foundations and let the audience make up their minds, not necessarily about the guilty/not guilty argument, but how the case was treated in general. However, if you read the many online reviews of the film you’ll find most are unfavourable. I thought Knox and Sollecito came off better than the others, not through manipulation but by the fact they admitted they made mistakes and said foolish things, however, guilty or not, they will always be seen as guilty. The film only scratched the surface of a far bigger problem in our society but it underlines the part of the case most forgotten – that a young girl was beaten, raped and murdered and cannot defend herself. The disrespect her and her family have gone through is sickening, and I respect Blackhurst and McGinn above everything else for acknowledging this at the film’s conclusion. This won’t be the last film made of the case, more evidence and more lies will be released in time and I’m not sure it’ll ever end in solid conclusion. It’s a sad day for justice, one Blackhurst and McGinn rightfully blame the media and courts for but perhaps not vigorously enough, Knox has had her trial, it's time the media had theirs.