In France, magistrates are trained at the National School of Magistracy in Bordeaux. The "junior magistrates" who are accepted on the results of a competitive exam, spend two and a half years studying the profession's theory and practice.
The film gives us a glimpse of what "judging" involves by showing us the major steps of the cursus both in class and in court face to face with "real" people.
Through the dichotomy between the ideal they are taught and the courtroom reality, we discover that justice, rather than being a matter of written law, is more a question of searching for distance, a staged situation and a moral, human and philosophic questioning within what can sometimes prove to be e weighty institution.

 

French Heritage Prize - Cinéma du Réel 1998