The Life of Emile Zola
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1:28:00
Permission granted.
1:28:13
Gentlemen...
1:28:16
...in the House of Deputies
a month ago...

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...to frantic applause,
the prime minister, Monsieur Maline...

1:28:23
...declared that he had confidence
in you 12 citizens...

1:28:27
...into whose hands he had bestowed
the defense of the army.

1:28:32
In other words...
1:28:34
...you are being instructed,
by order, to condemn me...

1:28:39
...just as, in that other case...
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...the minister of war
dictated the acquittal of Esterhazy.

1:28:45
Down with Zola!
1:28:51
The prime minister gave
no such order to this jury.

1:28:55
His words made his intention
to coerce justice unmistakable.

1:29:01
And I denounce them
to the conscience of honest men.

1:29:04
Confine yourself to the facts.
1:29:08
However...
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...my profession is writing,
not talking.

1:29:16
But from my struggling youth
until today...

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...my principal aim
has been to strive for truth.

1:29:23
That is why I entered this fight.
1:29:26
All my friends have told me that it
was insane for a single person...

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...to oppose the immense machinery
of the law...

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...the glory of the army
and the power of the state.

1:29:39
They warned me that my actions
would be mercilessly crushed...

1:29:44
...that I would be destroyed.
1:29:47
But what does it matter
if an individual is shattered...

1:29:51
...if only justice is resurrected?
1:29:55
It has been said that the state
summoned me to this court.


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