密謀者(The Conspirator)

電影"密謀者"說的是軍事法庭對 Mary Surratt 的審判。

南北戰爭結束後不久，勉強存活下來的聯盟在慢慢找回多年戰爭中遺失的那份安詳的思緒時，華盛頓特區一家劇院中的一聲槍響，把國家重新拋入危機。一個名叫 John Wilkes Booth 的南方人, 剛剛刺殺了亞布拉罕.林肯總統。

被追捕的John Wikes Booth 不久就困於一個燃燒的馬棚中，拒絕向政府官員投降而身亡。同時，另外八個人也因與John Wilkes Booth密謀刺殺總統/副總統/國務卿而遭逮捕／起訴，這其中有一個婦女，名叫 Mary Surratt.

Fredreick Aiken, 戰爭中是一名忠誠的聯盟軍官，戰後是一名年輕的律師，極不情願地同意在軍事法庭上為Mary Surratt 女士辯護。因她被指控的罪行，Aiken 開始時一點兒都不在意她的命運。但隨著審判的繼續，他逐漸發現，在軍事法庭上軍人法官的幫助下，政府將偽造的證據／證人強加在 Surratt女士頭上，以達到複仇而非伸張正義的目的。在這個認知下，Aiken 開始變得非常投入, 幾乎不計成本地為Surratt 女士辯護, 但最終沒有成功。無論有罪或無辜，政府決定用Surratt 女士的生命來解決一個國家危機. 大眾需要複仇!

由 Robert Redford 導演的"密謀者", 通過這一偉大國家的一段黑暗曆史片段，提醒人們任何政治係統，無論他們多麽理所當然地視為完善／強大，在艱難的時期，當人們在自身無法克服的缺陷中隨波逐流時，(係統)也會失敗。隻有牢記這一點，這個國家才更可能演變成一個"更加完美的國家"。

整部電影的 Youtube 鏈接  https://youtu.be/6z5h3-_hJks?si=jkwevLHFk-lLmp0h

The movie "The Conspirator" is about the trial of Mary Surratt through a millitary tribunal.

Right after the civil war has finally come to an end, as the barely-survived Union is slowly rediscovering the peace of mind it has lost for many a year during the war, a gunshot in a theatre in Washington DC throws the nation right back into a crisis. A man from the South, named John Wilkes Booth, has just assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. 

While the hunted John Wilkes Booth is soon killed when being trapped in a buring barn and refusing to surrender to the government agents, eight other people are arrested and charged with consparing to kill the President, Vice President, and Secretary of State, among whom is a woman named Mary Surratt. 

Frederick Aiken, a faithful union officier during the war and a young lawyer afterwards, relctantly agrees to defend Mary Surratt before the miliary tribunal. Considering the charge agianst Ms. Surratt, Mr. Aiken at the  beginning cares no less of her fate. But as the trial goes on, he has gradually come to the realization that the government, with the help of the military judges at the tribunal, faking its evidence and witness upon Ms. Surratt, is not for justice but for revenge. With this new understanding, Mr. Frederick Aiken becomes most devoted to defending his client's innocence she is, by the Constitution, entitled to being deemed until proven guilty, at almost all cost. Yet the pulic needs revenge, and the givernment is determined to use Ms Surratt's life to solve a national crisis, regardless of her innocence or otherwise. Ms. Mary Surratt has been considered gulity long before the tribunal even gets strated.

"The Conspirator", directed by Robert Redford,  though a dark piece of this great nation's history, reminds people that any system, however sound and strong to let them take for granted, may fail them when the time is hard, as they themselves are being carried away by their own flaws they cannot overcome. Only with this in mind will this nation have a better chance to truly evolve into "a more perfect nation".