L'ultimo testimone

Wolfgang Staudte worked from the Second World War up to 1956 in East Germany and afterwards in West Germany. One of his most well known films was "Die Mörder sind unter uns" (1946) with Hildegard Knef.

By 1960 his most innovative years were gone, and that can be seen from "The last witness". It is a rather standard court room drama. Good but not special. Surprising end but rather static in the rest of the film.

The real value of the film is in its criticism on the judicial apparatus. The police is more interested in getting a file closed as quickly as possible than in finding the truth. The court is full of bourgeois prejudices. A woman with lots of amorous affairs must also be perfectly capable of committing the crime. A woman having an extramarital relationship wit a married man threatens his marriage, the responsibility of the man himself is just denied.