By Kyle Osborne
If we have learned anything in this age in which we live, it should be:
- Everything is being recorded on camera, everywhere, all the time.
And
- The recordings rarely tell the whole story.
Because of these two bits of reality, documentary filmmaker Ryan White, of whom I am a big fan, has been able to assemble a narrative that is rich in closed-circuit TV footage, and able to see those images from different points of view. He made “Assassins” into a murder mystery and a courtroom drama, all at once.
You will remember the headlines from four years ago: the half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un was assassinated in the Kuala Lumpur airport. It was a most bizarre killing of Kim Jong-nam – two young women approached him and rubbed the extremely toxic VX nerve agent on his face before running away. He was dead within 20 minutes.
With the help of some excellent experts, in particular two reporters, White lets us know why this was almost surely a murder ordered by Kim Jong-un and organized by four North Koreans who made it back home (a story within itself).
But the only two who were put on trial and under jeopardy of death by hanging (Malaysia doesn’t play, bro) were the two young ladies, one an Indonesian, the other a Vietnamese.
And here’s the crazy part, and don’t read about the case online until you’ve watched it unfold in this film- the crazy part is that the women claim they thought they were working as actresses in a YouTube video prank show. They said they not only didn’t have any idea that they were killing someone; they had no idea who their victim even was. They said they thought they were rubbing baby lotion on his face.
And yet, we see on the CCTV footage that they ran directly to the restroom to wash their hands afterward. They left in separate taxis. There is, to be sure, much damning evidence.
But two attorneys took the case, and damned if they don’t turn the fantastical defense into something credible and coherent. This is the part that we never knew back in the US, not the vast majority of us.
As I said, I don’t recommend reading more about it until after you see the film, because it really is fascinating how the case unfolded. I say it all the time: documentaries are usually more entertaining and enlightening than fictional films. The best ones like ‘Assassins’ can put you on the edge of your seat.
AVAILABLE ON iTUNES, AMAZON & OTHER PVOD PLATFORMS. More information at: https://greenwichentertainment.com/film/assassins/
