Twice in one week I watched a film based on the infamous real-life murder case of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. They were two wealthy and superiorly intelligent students from Chicago who wanted to show the world how they could commit the "perfect murder". The first, "Murder by Numbers", was very loosely inspired by the case, whereas this "Compulsion" is a truthful re-telling of what happened.
The names of the two murderers and their defense attorney are different, but for the rest everything is very factual. The film takes place in 1924, Judd and Artie choose an innocent 14-year-old kid as defenseless victim, Judd is an amateur ornithologist and Nietzsche fanatic, and the boys' charismatic legal counselor used the media-hyped trial to plea for the uselessness of the death penalty.
"Compulsion" is worth tracking down thanks to the intense acting performances, notably from Dean Stockwell and Orson Welles, and the uncanny atmosphere during the courtroom. Sadly it's also an extremely slow-paced and talkative film that requires full concentration, and there are hardly any moments with action footage or humor to put everything into perspective.
The names of the two murderers and their defense attorney are different, but for the rest everything is very factual. The film takes place in 1924, Judd and Artie choose an innocent 14-year-old kid as defenseless victim, Judd is an amateur ornithologist and Nietzsche fanatic, and the boys' charismatic legal counselor used the media-hyped trial to plea for the uselessness of the death penalty.
"Compulsion" is worth tracking down thanks to the intense acting performances, notably from Dean Stockwell and Orson Welles, and the uncanny atmosphere during the courtroom. Sadly it's also an extremely slow-paced and talkative film that requires full concentration, and there are hardly any moments with action footage or humor to put everything into perspective.