The Conspirator

Robert Redford's The Conspirator dramatizes the military trial of Mary Suratt, a boarding house owner accused of harboring conspirators and being involved in the plot to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. It is a strong, if somewhat obvious, drama that depicts the mood of hysteria that followed the assassination, and suggests its relevance to today's politics. Written by James Solomon who spent fourteen years researching the story, the film opens with a brief introduction showing the agony of combat troops in the Civil War, then focuses on the assassination of the President on April 14, 1865 by actor John Wilkes Booth (Toby Kebbell), a Southern partisan and his companions Lewis Payne (Norman Reedus), David Herold (Marcus Hester), and Samuel Arnold (Jeremy Tuttle) at the Ford Theatre in Washington, D.C..

Stealthily entering the President's box, Booth shoots Lincoln in the head, then leaps onto the stage shouting "sic semper tyrannis" (thus always to tyrants), and escapes on horseback. The assassination results in an outpouring of grief all over the country, and prompts the Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton (Kevin Kline) to vow revenge against the conspirators. After a two week search, Booth is found hiding in a nearby barn and shot to death, while seven suspected co-conspirators are arrested including Mary Suratt. Suratt is tried by a military tribunal where the rules state that only a majority vote is required for a guilty verdict and a two-thirds vote is needed to sentence a defendant to death. It is a court where a defendant is prohibited from testifying in their own defense.

Senator Reverdy Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) from Virginia and a former U. S. Attorney General agrees to defend Suratt on the grounds that she is innocent until proved guilty. The Senator, however, withdraws because he fears that being a Southerner might prejudice his case, and asks Frederick Aiken (James McEvoy), a northern attorney to defend her. Initially reluctant and dubious about her story, Aiken resolves to prove her innocence after seeing that the defendant was up against an overbearing prosecutor (Danny Huston), a biased head of the tribunal (Colm Meany), and the behind-the-scenes antagonism of Secretary Stanton.

At great cost to his personal life, Aiken tries to prove that Ms. Suratt knew the boarders who lived in her house, but was not involved in their conspiracy. As the case progresses, it becomes apparent that only her son John (Johnny Simmons), a known conspirator who fled to Canada, can save his mother by surrendering. While there is limited dimension to the characters, The Conspirator is true to the historical record and the film presents its message in a clear and powerful way. Redford, long a champion of civil liberties, implicitly reminds us that the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution expressly guarantees that "no person shall be deprived of life without due process of law" and provides no exception for war.

It is not only an important message for those unfamiliar with our nation's history, but is strikingly relevant to the present day in which hundreds of detainees at Guantanamo still languish in prison without trial, where a U.S. citizen, suspected of terrorist activities, is targeted for an assassination attempt without having been charged with, let alone convicted of, any crime, and where the ideal of due process and the presumption of innocence is slowly being replaced by unlimited violence, the repudiation of legality, and the undermining of democracy.

With the release of The Conspirator director Robert Redford hopes to be making more films like this which he says are historically accurate. At least by Redford's interpretation of historical events and the one he picked is still being picked over by many historians of the Civil War and Reconstruction period.

This film focuses on the trial and aftermath of the Lincoln assassination and most particularly on Mary Surratt at whose boardinghouse in Washington, DC, John Wilkes Booth and his curious band of conspirators met and plotted. One of those was Mary's son John who was the only one to escape apprehension.

The villain in the film is Secretary Of War Edwin M. Stanton played by Kevin Kline. It was not hard for him to do what he did, he certainly had public approval. The assassinated president Abe Lincoln had suspended the right of habeas corpus during the war, so this trial by military tribunal was not an unforeseeable step that Stanton would take. It is important to remember that at the time we actually were at war with Confederate Armies still in the field. Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox five days before the assassination, but Joe Johnston was in the field and when it is announced that the last Confederate Armies have surrendered the day of the hanging, they are referring to Richard Taylor's troops in Texas.

James McAvoy is a young army veteran and lawyer who becomes Mary Surratt's lawyer. In the end he believes in her innocence, but the forces of vengeance are too much for him to overcome. And while Surratt might not have been as innocent as the film makes out, no case beyond reasonable doubt was proved at least by the rules of any civil trial that should have taken place.

The film really belongs to Robin Wright as the implacable and fatalistic Mary Surratt. She definitely merits some Oscar consideration next year. Up there on the screen she becomes everyone's mother and one wonders about Johnnie Simmons as John Surratt seen in flashback as to why he isn't coming to the plate on this.

Perhaps because even Stanton was afraid of public opinion if two Surratt women were in custody on trial for their lives daughter Anna Surratt played by Evan Rachel Wood was never charged. She must have had some knowledge of what was going on. One aspect of the story I think Redford missed and I'm surprised as he's an actor and matinée idol back in the day himself. John Wilkes Booth though his southern sympathies were well known though his plotting a secret, was the great matinée idol of his day. And he certainly attracted his fair share of what would be called groupies back in the day. I think he probably favored Anna Surratt and certainly John Surratt was glad to be included in his entourage. Put in those terms the relationship becomes clearer.

Still Redford has crafted a justly well received film and it will no doubt lead to talk about the rights of the accused of the worst kind of crimes.

I had the pleasure of viewing this film at a press screening recently, as well as hearing an interesting Q&A afterwords. I was very impressed with this film.

I've read extensively about the topic of the Lincoln assassination, and came into the theatre expecting another Hollywood style period piece, one that minces facts and creates story lines where there are none. I came out feeling very contented, and a little teary. This movie is very well acted and truly conveys the emotion felt by the characters in history, unlike some civil war films.

This movie truly is about the struggle between justice and country. I won't give much away, but the emotional conflicts in this film are very deep and strong. I was very surprised at James Mcavoy's handling of the character, and more so his good American accent :D. Robin Wright and other supporting cast are also superb. Do see this movie when it comes out! It's a fantastic drama that will keep you at the edge of your seat, mixed in with fantastic period details. Any fan of American history and the civil war will enjoy this.

The Conspiritor uses an event that happened 150 years ago to tell a story which is all too familiar in our time. The backdrop off a shocking, sad event and the following massive public outcry pushes the powers to be to extreme measures, which they stand by because they feel to be forced to do or because they really believe it to be the only right thing.

Robert Redford has been well known for his political views and has displayed them already in the somewhat uneven Lions for Lambs. I like filmmakers who speak out. I can maybe not always agree, but I wholeheartedly admire that in this time of mindless action drivel like Transformers, Drive Angry and The Mechanic there is still hope for without trying to be arrogant: meaningful films. Redford uses the assassination of Lincoln to portray a nation in mourning and sadness. The Civil War was all but over and the policymakers were already planning the next step: the forming of a real Union. The assassination of Lincoln endangered the entire Union. The people wanted revenge and Edwin Stanton (an excellent Kevin Kline) serves it cold. Since her son is nowhere to be found anywhere, he settles for the next thing: his mother Mary Surrat. 'I don't care which one it is, as long as one of them pays the price'. Young Frederick Alken (James McAvoy) has the ungrateful task of defending her.

I don't know much about the Civil War and the period after that, so I can't say how accurate this film is. But what I can say is that it's a masterpiece in creating a period not so distant from our current world. If you replace the assassination of Lincoln with the 9/11-attacks, you have a film that stands firm. It asks relevant questions and holds a mirror right up to our faces. Are seeing clearly? In the sadness and outrage of such a shocking event, do we still see clearly what's going on? Do we still, as a people, have perspective enough to define friend from foe from guilty to innocent? Do our leaders have the capability, strength and courage to make us see or tell us 'no' when we are wrong? Or do policies, political views or elections hold them back and make them just give the public what they want? Mary Surrat, Lincoln, Osama Bin Laden, Afghanistan, Bush, Edward Stanton, Abu Grahib, post Civil War Washington, Guantanomo Bay. History repeats itself over and over again. When will we learn? Guilty or innocent. Is it important? Do we care? I give this film 8 out of 10.

THE CONSPIRATOR may have had difficulty at the box office because of the controversy over the use of military tribunals that rings across the media today. But this film, based on fact but altered somewhat for cinematic purposes, deals with probably the first misuse of a military tribunal - the infamous trial of the assassinators of President Abraham Lincoln by a conspiracy of citizens, most especially the non-military affiliated Mary Surratt. James Solomon wrote the story and co-scripted the screenplay with Gregory Bernstein. The director is Robert Redford who manages to give the entire film the feeling of mid-19th century aura - visually and politically - and suggests there is little difference between the approach and consequences of that time and the current management of 'anti-government' prisoners.

The film opens with some scenes from the Civil War battlefield where we meet the severely wounded soldier Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy) attempting to save the life of his buddy Nicholas Baker (Justin Long). The film then jumps to the end of the war when the Confederate generals have surrendered to the Union generals and parties are underway. Aiken and Baker have survived and Aiken has decided to pursue law. The President is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth and in the aftermath Booth is killed but it is discovered that there was a plot to kill Lincoln as well vice president Andrew Johnson (Dennis Clark) and secretary of state (Kevin Kline). The response of the nation is terror and the suspects of the conspiracy are arrested and set for trial. The conspirators had been meeting in the boarding house of Mary Surratt (Robin Wright) so the military decides she must also be a conspirator and tried with the others 'to put this madness to an end.' The men in charge of the tribunal include Joseph Holt (Danny Huston) and David Hunter (Colm Meaney). There is one lawyer, Reverdy Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) who feels that the tribunal is not an acceptable manner in which to try a citizen and assigns the fresh new lawyer Frederick Aiken to defend Mary Surratt. At first Aiken hates his role but as time passes and he gets to know Mary Surratt he is convinced of her innocence and implores Mary (and Mary's daughter Anna - Evan Rachel Wood) to reveal the location of the true problem in their family - Mary's son John (Johnny Simmons). The story features the change of approach of Aiken and the abuse of justice at the trial and the film ends with some very poignant lessons not only about our history but also about our present.

The pacing of the film is slow at times, but the cinematography by Newton Thomas Sigel and the musical score my Mark Isham keep the film involving. James McAvoy offers a sterling performance and the rest of the cast is impressive. THE CONSPIRATOR is a healthy dip into our nation's past and makes us more alert to our nation's present.

Grady Harp