How is forensics portrayed in film, literature and television? How does the popular perception of forensics affect the courtroom?
We have free tickets for each film screening still available for our Pop Forensics weekend in collaboration with BFI. Films will be shown at Wellcome Collection.
Saturday 6 June
Mystery Street (1950, John Sturges) 93 mins, 12A certificate
11.30-13.30
Screening of Mystery Street with an introduction and Q&A from writer and critic, Maxim Jakubowski
This 1950s noir thriller offers a look at the forensics of the day, as a team of medical scientists from Harvard Medical School shed doubt on the guilt of the chief suspect in a girl’s murder.
Murder By Numbers (2002, Barbet Schroeder) 115 mins, 15 certificate
14.00-16.00
Sandra Bullock takes on the role of a disillusioned cop who, with fresh enthusiasm inspired by her new partner, investigates a murder committed by two high-school students who think they have committed the perfect crime. An interesting insight into forensics in mainstream Hollywood.
Madeleine (1950, David Lean) 110 mins, U certificate
16.30-18.30
Screening of Madeleine with an introduction from film curator, Karen Podesta
Based on the true story of Madeleine Smith, a young Glasgow socialite who was tried in 1857 for the murder of her lover, in what the newspapers called “the trial of the century”. Featured in our exhibition, this film focuses on the courtroom setting, unlike contemporary portrayals of forensic science.
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