Das Urteil (1997)

The New York antiquarian Siegfried Rabinovicz wants to transfer to his flight to Hamburg at Munich Airport, but a flight attendant approaches him with an offer to trade: his ticket for the booked connecting flight in exchange for a first-class ticket on a flight the following morning and a rare edition of the Haggadah. Without considering the reasons behind it, he agrees and goes to an airline lounge to pass the time. In the waiting area, Rabinovicz notices a stranger watching him conspicuously and taking photographs. He feels threatened. It now also emerges that the flight attendant was acting on behalf of an unknown airline and that the original flight was not overbooked at all. Seemingly by chance, he gets into a conversation with another passenger waiting there about a sensational murder case aboard a cruise ship. The newspapers on display are full of it; the murder has been a topic in the media for days. On a cruise ship, the businessman Hamilton is found murdered in his cabin. There is a key witness who, in the adjoining cabin, heard an argument shortly before the murder and saw the suspect, Wolf, come out of the cabin immediately afterward. A lively discussion quickly develops between the stranger and Rabinovicz. The stranger questions the witness’s credibility and criticizes what he says are the prosecution’s one-sided investigations. Rabinovicz is firmly convinced of the main suspect’s guilt and is well informed about the details of the investigation. As their heated debate continues, it emerges that Rabinovicz is the key prosecution witness being reported on in every newspaper. He is on his way to the trial, which begins the next day. In a nuanced verbal back-and-forth, the stranger increasingly manages to make Rabinovicz doubt his initially unequivocal assessment of what he saw. The stranger calls Rabinovicz a judge, since the prosecution’s investigation is so one-sided that the verdict depends largely on Rabinovicz’s testimony in court. As the discussion continues, Rabinovicz agrees. They discuss Rabinovicz’s childhood in Germany, his experiences as a child in a concentration camp during the Nazi era, and the significance of the Haggadah. At the height of their discussion, Rabinovicz secretly writes his revised verdict on a piece of paper: not guilty. Suddenly, the stranger is called by name. He is asked to report to his editorial office. Rabinovicz recognizes him as the editor who, over the past few days, had been the only person at his newspaper campaigning for the main suspect’s innocence and against the witness. Rabinovicz realizes that the journalist orchestrated his stay in the lounge. The journalist describes Wolf as a father figure and tries to justify his behavior. Deeply repelled and uncertain, Rabinovicz wants to change his booking so he can stay away from the trial. He is no longer sure of his judgment. Meanwhile, the new daily newspapers arrive, leading with the headline “Wolf Confesses.” The journalist and Rabinovicz part on neutral terms; Rabinovicz shows understanding for his behavior and feels relieved. He invites the journalist to visit him in New York.