[HanCinema's News] Jung Woo-sung and Kim Hyang-gi Courtroom Stills for "Innocent Witness"
By William Schwartz | Published on
The marketing behind "Innocent Witness", starring Jung Woo-sung and Kim Hyang-gi, and directed by Lee Han, released stills of the film's climactic courtroom scene. In this scene, defense lawyer Soon-ho (played by Jung Woo-sung) grills witness with autism Ji-woo (played by Kim Hyang-gi) to try and get a not guilty verdict for his client.
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Although much of "Innocent Witness" revolves around Soon-ho's relationship with Ji-woo, much of the conflict up until this point is whether Ji-woo will appear in court at all. Ji-woo's parents are reluctant about putting her in a public setting like that where she is likely to be humiliated.
It's an extremely tense scene. Unlike the genre standard for legal dramas, where the lawyer is framed sympathetically as witnesses are shown to either reliable or unreliable, audience sympathy here is squarely on the side of Ji-woo. This is because so much of "Innocent Witness" is dedicated to humanizing her.
The scene also establishes the final conflict, which up until then had only just been implied - that Soon-ho's ambitions in regards to being a successful lawyer are at odds with his being a good person. This is the thematic strength that has been bolstering the reputation of "Innocent Witness" as a film.
Written by William Schwartz
Staff writer. Has been writing articles for HanCinema since 2012, having lived in South Korea from 2011 to 2021. He is currently located in the Portland metropolitan area. William Schwartz can be contacted via william@hancinema.net, and is open to requests for content in future articles.