The Revolving Door

The Revolving Door is a 1968 American short documentary film directed by Lee R. Bobker, about the U.S.judicial system, explaining the types of cases tried in the lower court, showing the typical minor offenders and examining the inadequate jailing facilities. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.

There are some quite startling statistics used to underpin the thread of the narration here. The routine dispensation of justice onto minor offenders who's defence has had about five minutes to prepare, who's prosecutors have had just about the same amount of time to proceed and the judge (probably with repetitive strain injury) who can deal with over 25,000 of these misdemeanours in one calendar year. It's an hand-held camera job for the most part exposing the audience to a wide variety of people who have fallen foul of the law. Some for the first time, some who are clearly hoping for a place to sleep and a decent meal as it's conceivably safer (and warmer) for them inside one of the basic, and ageing, correctional facilities. The writing is pretty cynical about the relative merits of this production-line process and after about ten minutes, it's not hard to see why. Resources are relentlessly tied up in a vicious circle that offers little hope to anyone. It's an aptly named documentary that is dry as a bone, but worth a watch.