Current release: TERROR'S ADVOCATE

When a film opens with the subject calmly explaining why the crimes of the Khmer Rouge aren't as excessive as you might think, you know you're in the company of a controversial figure. So it goes, as Barbet Schroeder's latest documentary pieces together a biography of Jacques Verges, a lawyer who has had involvement with a veritable who's who of controversial figures from Carlos the Jackal to Klaus Barbie.

I was impressed by the previous Schroeder documentaries I'd seen (GENERAL IDI AMIN DADA and KOKO, A TALKING GORILLA) so I'd been eagerly awaiting this new effort, once again concentrating on a controversial but important figure. For the most part, it doesn't disappoint.

Regardless of the beliefs and actions of the man in question, he's charismatic, intelligent and funny and as a result is endlessly fascinating to hear. The only downside therefore is that in trying to bring us up to speed on who all the supporting characters are, Schroeder ensures that Verges himself becomes a supporting player in his own film, and it's not quite the same when he's not on screen.

The film plays out as a fascinating portrait of a fascinating man, but despite the flaw mentioned above it's also an interesting look at the modern history of terrorism and war criminals. See it now before it disappears from the cinema.