A Certain Justice (1998)
The story is about the murder of Venetia Aldridge, a QC (Queen's Council) in a London "Chambers" and a very ambitious barrister who has a track record of winning her cases. She doesn't necessarily prove that her clients are innocent, she simply disproves the prosecution's case against them. In the course of her career ,she has made enemies and one of them kills her and she is found in a very ritualistic setting.
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Just perfect...
When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
"A Certain Justice" was a long-awaited novel release by Dame P.D. James and it was worth the wait. Even more worthwhile was the wait for the movie/TV release.Roy Marsden's Adam Dalgliesh is simply superb: cerebral yet human, captivating, mesmerizing, never a dull moment. James is considered the "queen of the modern mystery novel" and who can argue? In this episode, the irony of the title is not missed, as the film touches on more themes than just murder. A judge is found dead, murdered, with a number of bizarre clues and incidents that relate to the case and it takes Dalgleish (and his team) a while to piece together the puzzle. But viewers need not worry. Every scene is worth watching and never slows down, as it approaches an incredibly suspenseful climax. An A-plus for sure.
PD James is something of an important cusp in the great experiment of the detective story. The old form had a person in the story that was midway among the stuff of the story, the stuff of the creator of the story and the stuff of the watcher. James' new form had us discover the nature of the detective as well as the mystery, which took a back seat. Elizabeth George and others followed suit and a new genre was born.As it happens, the foibles of the characters IN the mystery melded with those of the man (and us?) UNRAVELLING the mystery.Its a great innovation. Its worthy of a good cinematic adaptation. This is not a great adaptation, rather just another cookiecutter staging. There's a final irony about punishment, but it hardly matters because the enclosing irony, the ironic situation of the form was ignored.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
This is one of the best adaptations of PD James' novels in the Adam Dalgliesh series. It follows the book very closely except for the character of Octavia's father who is just mentioned in the movie. "A Certain Justice" is one of Baroness James' best works. The story is about the murder of Venetia Aldridge, a QC (Queen's Council) in a London "Chambers" and a very ambitious barrister who has a track record of winning her cases. She doesn't necessarily prove that her clients are innocent, she simply disproves the prosecution's case against them. In the course of her career ,she has made enemies and one of them kills her and she is found in a very ritualistic setting. She has a daughter who has little use for her and who is a total thorn in her side. When Octavia gets involved with a psycho that Venetia has just gotten off for murder it is the last straw for her.There are several sub plots that all come together in the end. And as Adam Dalgliesh, Roy Marsden is a little older (of course he has played AD for 15 years) but still fabulous. He keeps me spellbound every time he enters a scene. I could not picture anyone else playing Commander D. I highly recommend this video even if you have not read the book. It is truly first rate.