The Conspirator

Synopsis: In 1865 President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. In the wake of his murder, seven men and one woman are rounded up and charged with conspiracy to kill the President. The woman, Mary Surratt (Robyn Wright) runs a boarding house where many of the accused men resided. The task of defending Mary falls to ex-Union war hero and newly-qualified lawyer, Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy), who must defend Mary, a civilian, before a military tribunal.

I love it when films split the critical camp down the middle, and here is yet another which has some people declaring it a stodgy courtroom drama, while others say it is a strong retelling of an important piece of human-rights history. I’ll confess straight up to being a fence-sitter myself, partly because I am a non-political animal with little interest in American history and yet engaged by the intrinsically interesting issues the film raises.

The first thing to observe is how politicians will do anything to preserve the status quo, including their own position. With the northern Americans having just defeated the South in the civil war, the president’s murder threatened the new stability, especially since the perpetrator, John Wilkes Booth (Toby Kebbell) and his-co-conspirators were Southerners. So to hastily execute the guilty parties was seen as the best way to smooth over escalating divisions. But who was truly guilty and who should have decided this is at the heart of this story.

Secretary of State Stanton (menacingly played by Kevin Kline) is at the vanguard of the prosecution. He’s unashamedly a Lincoln supporter, but lacks Lincoln’s conciliatory bent. The other characters are far more ambivalent. Reverdy Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) is a southern senator who has been forced to swear allegiance to the new government and who feels he cannot, as a southerner, defend Mary, so he forces young Aiken to take the case. And here’s where the more human, emotional element of the story kicks in. Aiken, initially feeling Mary must have known of the conspiracy hatching under her roof and therefore be a conspirator, also firmly believes everyone is entitled to a fair trial. But Mary is determined to defend her hunted son, and won’t co-operate with Aiken. Gradually the relationship between the two begins to resemble one of a mother and son, with Mary’s boy missing, and Aiken becoming a progressively stronger defender of Mary’s perceived innocence. Even though they come from opposite sides of the political fence, they still discover the basic humanity in each other.

Wright, an actress I always admire, gives Mary a quiet, contained and stoic manner. McAvoy, shows again his acting strength as he morphs from brave soldier to brave defender of human rights. Fine supporting roles are taken by Rachel Evan Wood as Mary’s daughter, Anna, Colm Meaney as General Hunter, head of the military tribunal, and Danny Huston as the two-faced lawyer, Holt, who will do anything to turn the defence’s witnesses. Unfortunately Wilkinson, though a formidable actor, does a lousy Southern American accent.

Careful research and attention to historical detail has been paid, and from the bloodied battleground of the opening scene to the muted colour palate of the courtroom and the gloomy deprivations of the prison to the lavish interiors of the private clubs, everything feels highly authentic. Lovers of serious history films should be impressed but for those wanting something a little pacier, The Conspirator may be too slow moving. Whatever camp you’re in, Redford proves again that he’s a man of conviction with something to say.

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