Kathryn Murphy
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April 27, 1987
- Principal photography began in Vancouver on April 27, 1987, and concluded on June 22.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Accused_(1988_film)
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The Accused is a 1988 American legal drama film directed by Jonathan Kaplan and written by Tom Topor, loosely based on the 1983 gang rape of Cheryl Araujo in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The film stars Jodie Foster as Sarah Tobias, a young waitress who is gang raped by three men at a local bar.
The film is based on the experience of Cheryl Araujo, who survived a violent gang rape on March 6, 1983 at Big Dan's Tavern in New Bedford, Massachusetts by six men (four of whom were later convicted). The bar lost its liquor license the next day, and was permanently closed two days later.
- (41K)
- Crime, Drama
- Jonathan Kaplan
- 1988-10-14
Roger Ebert. October 14, 1988. 4 min read. “The Accused” demonstrates that rape victims often are suspects in their own cases. Surely they must have been somehow to blame. How were they behaving at the time of the crime? How were they dressed? Had they been drinking? Is their personal life clean and tidy?
The Accused (1988) The controversial rape-themed drama The Accused opens with an exterior shot of a bar, The Mill, located somewhere along the highways of Washington. Ominous music plays as the sky turns to black. A young man named Kenneth Joyce (Bernie Coulson) appears rushing outside of the bar.
- Plot
- Themes
- Cast
- Production
- Release
- Reception
- Further Reading
Sarah Tobias is brutally gang-raped by three men at a local bar while several patrons watch and cheer. District Attorney Kathryn Murphy is assigned to the case. Although there is strong physical evidence corroborating Sarah's rape, Kathryn feels that Sarah will not make a credible witness due to her checkered past and flirtatious behavior with the ...
It is loosely based on the 1983 gang rape of Cheryl Araujo in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and the resulting trial which received national coverage (and was also the focus of an episode on the 2020 Netflix documentary series Trial by Media). The film explores the themes of classism, misogyny, post-traumatic stress disorder, slut shaming, victim blam...
Kelly McGillisas Kathryn MurphyBernie Coulsonas Kenneth JoyceLeo Rossias Cliff 'Scorpion' AlbrectDevelopment
Screenwriter Tom Topor was inspired to write the film after the trial involving the rape of Cheryl Araujo became national news. Dawn Steel called him to ask if he'd be interested in doing a movie on the subject. Sherry Lansing and Stanley Jaffe from Paramount Pictures were subsequently signed on to produce the film. Topor interviewed 30 rape victims and numerous rapists, prosecutors, defense attorneys and medical professionals. Jonathan Kaplanmet with Steel and discussed the possibility of ma...
Casting
Due to its hardened themes and graphic screenplay, the studio was already skeptical of making the film and it was essential for the producers to cast a bankable actress in the role of Sarah Tobias. Numerous actresses were offered or considered for the part including Kim Basinger, Demi Moore, Jennifer Beals, Meg Tilly, Rosanna Arquette, and Kristin Davis, but all of them rejected the film due to its gruesome and controversial themes. Producers Sherry Lansing and Stanley R. Jaffe both had serio...
Filming
Principal photography for The Accused began on April 22, 1987, and wrapped two months later on June 2. Although set in Washington state, it was filmed mainly in Vancouver, British Columbia. The gang rape scene was highly controversial at the time of its release (and still continues to be), as being the longest, most graphic and boldest representation of sexual assault in mainstream cinematic history. It took five days to complete and the filming was a difficult experience for the cast and cre...
The Accused was released in limited theatres in North America on October 14, 1988. Although it was supposed to be released in April, it was deferred to October due to the Writers Guild of America's strike. The film premiered at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival in 1989, where it competed for the Golden Bear.
Box office
In its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, The Accused was number one at the box office, grossing $4.3 million in 796 theaters. The film grossed a total of $32.1 million in the United States and Canada and $60 million overseasfor a worldwide total of $92.1 million.
Critical response
The Accused received positive reviews from critics upon its release, with Foster's performance receiving widespread acclaim. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 92% based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 65 out of 100 indicating "generally favourable reviews". In a positive review, writing of the two criminal prosecutions in the film, Roger Ebert finds that the lesson of the trial "may be th...
Accolades
At the 61st Academy Awards, Foster won Best Actress. This was the film's sole nomination, thus marking the first occurrence of such an event since 1962 (when Sophia Loren won for Two Women) that the winner of the category won for a film with a single nomination. In 2006, Foster's performance was ranked #56 on Premiere's100 Greatest Film Performances of all-time.
Aquino, John T. (2005). "Big Dan's Tavern Rape Trial (1983) / Film: The Accused (1988)," in Truth and Lives on Film: The Legal Problems of Depicting Real Persons and Events in a Fictional Medium.Mc...
Overview. After a young woman suffers a brutal rape in a bar one night, a prosecutor assists in bringing the perpetrators to justice, including the ones who encouraged and cheered on the attack.
Out drinking one night after a fight with her boyfriend, three men brutally rape Sarah Tobias in a bar while people watch and cheer. District Attorney Kathryn Murphy takes the case, however, she ...
- (27)
- Drama
- R
