Alfred Dreyfus was an Alsatian general of Jewish origin. One of many, but made history because he became the protagonist of one of the greatest injustices of the nineteenth century. His life and his vicissitudes are at the center of one of the best known political and social conflicts of the Third French Republic.
Captain Dreyfus was accused of treason and espionage for Germany. He was innocent, but he didn't care. Dreyfus was rich and he was Jewish. That was enough in a France that had just emerged from the defeat of the Franco-Prussian war, at the mercy of strong contrasts between republicans and royalists, and on the eve of the First World War.
The case, made famous by the famous "J'accuse" by the writer Émile Zola, is at the center of Roman Polański's latest film "The Officer and the Spy", this year's winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 76th Venice International Film Festival cinematographic art of Venice. A film that tells the story from the point of view of the hero. Dreyfus? No. Lieutenant Georges Picquart who decided to fight a corrupt system, trying to shed light on the whole affair.
It is this film that the film critic, Patrizio Rossano, is reviewing this week in his column on FIRST Art, FIRSTonline art and culture magazine. Is it worth going to the cinema to see the Polish director's latest work, despite the legal vicissitudes and controversies he has been the protagonist of in recent years? Let's find out by reading the review of "The Officer and the Spy".
