Das Versprechen

"It was like stepping inside a slaughterhouse."

So one observer in the documentary Killing for Love reports about the brutal murders of Nancy and Derek Haysom in 1985. More lurid than the photos is the court conclusion that lovers Elizabeth Haysom and Jens Soring murdered them, she being their daughter.

What makes this an audience pleaser is the archival footage that shows her to be a cunning beauty and him an almost innocent lamb to her romantic slaughter. This, the intrigue is that after confessing to the murder, Jens tries to recant saying he lied to mitigate the sentence of his love. The court wouldn't accept the confession of the confession.

Directors Karin Steinberger and Marcus Vetter cut between time and testimonials to create a dynamic if confusing, disjointed set of circumstances filled with lies and ambiguity. Both conditions would ordinarily fulfill the needs of soap opera, but here, as truth is the end game, energy for sympathy is sapped by conflicting facts and sentiments.

Yet, the salacious elements endure for audience interest such as the fact that Elizabeth's mom photographed her nude and allegedly abused her. Additionally, Jens adds a sardonic attitude toward the proceedings that hypnotizes those who would like to think this not a laughing matter.

Filled with striking moments - such as the courtroom revelation that Elizabeth's mother took nude photographs of her and may have abused her sexually, and a tour of the house in which the murders took place, conducted by its current owner who doesn't seem at all fazed by its horrific past

For history buffs, the archival footage is nectar. For those of us who find the DNA evidence now compelling, it looks as if a part II may be in order for Jens Soring's future.

In Virginia in the mid 1980s, a young woman's parents were murdered. She went on the run with her boyfriend: they were subsequently caught and separately tried. She pleaded guilty, he innocent; she gace evidence against him. But they were a very unusualy couple, both unusually intelligent. In the film of their trials, she comes across as extremely calculating; he does a good job of protesting his innocence (claiming he first volunteered to take the rap to protect her), although this whole film is constructed as a presentation of his case. When it was made, both were still in prison, although an update indicates they have finally both been released. I think that 30 years in prison is enough, even for murder in most cases, and I'm glad Jens is finally free. But we might never know the true story: Jens comes across as extremely sympathetic, yet the case for a straightforward miscarriage of justice isn't quite there; it all comes down to who you believe.

Extremely extended and a diffuse drama. A square narrated history that has enormous potential. A lot of non-verbal and marginal persons occur and give us their opinions. But what about those who could interpret Jens and Elizabeth's story from a different perspective? However the trial shows that the US is a very legally unsafe part of the world, where gnomes like this may engage in law. Just add water.

If you're a fan of true-crime documentaries like "Making A Murder," the "Paradise Lost" films, and "The Thin Blue Line," this film is for you. Like those films, this one allows you to sit watching as judge & jury, looking at a case through the prism of time, to see if the verdict was just. I believe, like those films, that this one lays out a persuasive argument for reasonable doubt which is no small thing. After all, it is a fact that innocent people end up in prison. Luckily, on occasion, the system corrects itself, as we read every few months when someone is exonerated by DNA. For that to happen, though, people need to care and that is why I recommend watching this film. Every voice counts.

The film is a very entertaining and moving documentary in the mode of past films about wrongful convictions that have wrenching consequences. I didn't know about the case or the media coverage that it generated back in the day, so appreciated the patient narrative build up towards the heartbreaking conclusion along with updates about how Jens Söring is inexplicably still in jail because of mystifying motivations or past and present politicians in Virginia. I saw a Los Angeles screening of the film that featured a rousing affirmation of the need for justice for Jens Söring. I feel the same way and hope that others can come to the same conclusion and lend their support to his cause before it is too late.