Movie

Crime of the Century

1996 · 114 min

A sober, heavy dramatisation that leaves you with a slow ache of injustice as the machinery of law grinds an ordinary man down.

Overview: In 1932, the nation was shocked when the 14-month-old son of Charles Lindbergh was kidnapped, held for ransom, and murdered. Two years later, Bruno Richard Hauptmann was arrested, convicted, and executed. This film dramatizes the investigation against Hauptmann, the trial, and the execution, painting a picture of a corrupt police force under pressure to finger a killer framing an innocent man by manufacturing evidence, paying-off and blackmailing witnesses, and covering up exculpatory evidence.
How it feels: Bleak, melancholic, tense and earnest. Measured and needs your attention.
About: Justice, corruption, guilt, power
Content: Mild violence, gore and language. No sexual content.
Note: Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Full breakdown

Tone: bleakstrength 3 of 3
melancholicstrength 2 of 3
tensestrength 2 of 3
earneststrength 2 of 3
Pacing: measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: justice
corruption
guilt
power
family
Places: big city
small town
home
Era: period
Audience: adult
Form: true story
Content intensity: Gore mild
Language mild
Violence mild
Sex none