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Review by gibson8 ★★★★ Liked

Traditional talking heads documentary about one of the most fascinating subjects for the genre.

Verges might not be satisfactorily interrogated about the moral dimension of his continual and defence of murderers but that is really not the point.

I have rarely seen the 'other' perspective showcased in the world of terror. The most insightful moment is when Yacef Saadi explains that he grew averse to bombings because of people losing limbs, not the deaths (people are going to die anyway) but he couldn't tolerate the mutilation.

This is a deeply selfish ideology which presents disability as worse than death. Fuck this guy.

Review by garwin ★★★★★

this shit is insane

Review by Dan Gaertner ★★★★

Of course this is a Barbet Schroeder documentary. “Terror’s Advocate” is a troubling and compelling profile of lawyer Jacques Vergès and his defense of unsavory characters. It feels like there are multiple films jammed in this piece, all given space to breathe.

Schroeder allows Jacques Vergès to explain himself and what you get is a portrait of a man who… well, I don’t know. We come to understand that Jacques Vergès is a repellent troll with “politics” outside of any known category. Vergès himself would likely agree. Any other conclusion is up to you the viewer.

2

in this film lawyer jacques verges predates the bill murray "no one will believe you" fries story by 40 years when he calls a woman who recognises him in paris while he is in hiding a "fatso" to jumble her story

Review by Richard Killiam ★★★★

As I sit at my laptop writing this, my emotions are still running pretty high from watching the footage of this morning's "Charlie Hebdo" massacre in Paris where I am staying all week. I watched "L'avocat de la terreur" last night; a coincidence I guess. A good coincidence as it's the only thing keeping the violence of my emotional reaction in check. For amongst all the information overload in Barbet Schroeder's intensely relevant documentary, there is one simple message: that violence, even backed by noble ideals, is not the simple answer it appears to be.

At the beginning of this documentary film's portrayal of Jacques Vergès he comes across as an idealist provocateur. Fighting for underdogs in battles now perceived…

Review by Dan O'Neill ★★★

Wanted less of a history lesson and more actual details about his cases, his strategies, how he approached certain cases against others, etc. Instead, it's a lot of talking heads that all seem to be repeating the same things.

Review by max ★★★½ Liked

So there's no question that Jacques Verges certainly deserves to have a documentary made about his utterly fascinating life and career...but to have a damn near sycophantic documentary about such a polarizing figure, with very few to nary a peep of counter-arguments against his person? I dunno...that struck me as patently false. That he comes off like a smug pompous Struggling Background Artist did him no favors in my mind either - sure, he's got a right to be, but to not stick it to him with rebuttals, with more pointed questions...Barbet, you're no Errol Morris, that's for damn sure.

But I can't hate on a doc whose subject matter not only fucked one, but possibly two, hot female terrorists...I…

Review by Malvad ★★★★

A ferociously detailed documentary about a lawyer whose dealings could be seen to be problematic. I'm still processing a lot of the information in this film but although I may gripe about the sensationalistic headline, the information provided is convincing nevertheless.

Review by Joshua Ward ★★★★ Liked

The title is much more apt than I would have thought before watching this, considering that the subject of this documentary (Jacques Verges) has probably defended more people accused of terrorism than anyone in world history. It's particularly interesting in that I sought this out based on the fact that he was described as the curious lawyer who chose to defend war criminals, dictators, former Nazis, and all sorts of infamous individuals. But the documentary focuses more on his relationship to political movements and terrorism from the 50's to the late 80's, showing for these aspects to be more important and defining to him as a person. It makes for a fascinating and complicated journey, that you may learn a few things from by the end.

Review by Jons ★★★

I want to applaud Schroeder for at least giving Vergès and many revolutionaries, freedom fighters and "terrorists" a podium to explain their ideologies, their motivations and their methods without too much condemnation. This is quite unique in the Western world, and makes for a fascinating film. The narrative stalls after the section on Algeria and Palestine , and Schroeder becomes too preoccupied with the RAF and The Jackel, and whatever illegal aid Vergès supposedly provided these groups. This mostly involves a bunch of boring krauts reading from documents while Vergès does his best O.J. Simpson impression, cigar included. It's a shame considering how many more fascinating and sometimes genuinely horrifying figures he defended which are now completely glossed over. Klaus…

Review by can ★★★★½

an immensely captivating story serving not only as a crash course in the history of international terror, covering a diverse set of figures from mao to carlos the jackal, but also providing the biography of an exceptional life. you get a sense of why people do things that are considered unthinkable

thank you malaika for rec

Review by Foxthree ★★★

Fascinating albeit overwhelming documentary about one of the most famous/infamous attorneys of the mid-century. 

Director Barber Schroeder is an auteur that I find fascinating. Often overlooked, and directs a wide variety of genres, his defining characteristic is his obsession with morally opaque protagonists. 

I will it the film dumps a lot of information pertaining to the complex web of revolutionary espionage of the Cold War. This might alienate anyone who doesn’t possess any background info on the subject. Still, there’s something very eye catching of Verges “arrogant-bastard” bravado he puts on.