a visible trace on
There wasn't a mark on this car David Harris had stolen.The Thin Blue Line · 1988 — 第 8 / 20 章 · 4'15" · C1
The Car With No Bullet Marks, Explained：under the impression
The state's case rests on a shooting, yet the stolen car at its center shows no bullet mark. "I went back several times... and could find no indications that that car had been hit by gunfire." The missing damage quietly undoes the story the prosecution told.
あらすじ
Investigators revisit the physical evidence in the Randall Adams case and find nothing: no bullet mark on David Harris's stolen car, only a faint possibility on one spot — until the car is totaled by a daughter's crash. From there the film moves to Vidor, Texas, the Klan's state headquarters, where the killing's racial backdrop and the defense team's uphill fight come into view.
注目の表現
the damn thinga great guya perfect win recordgullible
00:00 / 04:15Space 再生 · ← → セリフ移動 · R リピート
いま
このシーンの表現
under the impression
believing something to be true
She explains that Vidor believed the murdered officer was black, which made the town more dangerous.
I was under the impression that you had already left.
このシーンの他の表現
- the damn thing
that blasted thing
- a great guy
a supposedly wonderful man
- a perfect win record
never lost a case
- gullible
too ready to believe people
- a civil liberties attorney
a lawyer for civil rights
このシーンのメモ一覧
67 行のセリフに 22 件のメモ
relative clause: The reduced relative clause modifies the car and explains whose it was.
There wasn't a mark on this car David Harris had stolen.Link mark, on and this so they run together.
There wasn't a mark on this car David Harris had stolen.not moving
Do you think a car sitting still...ought to have done it
She should have hit the damn thing one time. She didn't.blasted — Mild swearing; avoid it in formal talk.
She should have hit the damn thing one time. She didn't.wreck a car completely
But before he could tell me about it, his daughter totaled the car out.The t in daughter softens in American speech.
But before he could tell me about it, his daughter totaled the car out.things of that kind — Spoken filler when listing; rare in formal writing.
and a few possession cases and stuff like that.as I recall it
That's the way I remember it, anyhow.fool — Casual insult for a foolish person; never to their face.
some kind of dummy that believes in the innocence of her clients.Sort of a blurs into a light sorta in fast speech.
I admit, I'm sort of a gullible person.looking at it differently
But on the other hand, I've seen an awful lot of people...as I see it
and all but Randall turned out to be guilty, in my opinion.all but: All but Randall means everyone except Randall, with but as except.
and all but Randall turned out to be guilty, in my opinion.as far as I remember
Everything, as I recall, that Mulder ever said...much more
because Dennis has a lot more trial experience...infinitive of purpose: The infinitives state the purpose behind filing the motion.
I prepared a motion for a continuance to get more time to try the case...stay overnight
It's a city where black people will not spend the night.past passive continuous: Was being followed stresses an ongoing, passive surveillance.
from the time I was that close to Vidor, I was being followed and observed.a lawyer for civil rights
She is tagged as an Eastern civil liberties attorney, code for an outsider stirring trouble.
an Eastern-educated civil liberties attorney...make someone seem unreliable
and that I was down there to discredit David Harris.「The Car With No Bullet Marks」を読み解く
What's really going on
The scene keeps returning to what can't be seen. A woman fires at a car and misses; a car is searched and shows "no indications... hit by gunfire"; the one possible mark vanishes when the car is wrecked. Each detail chips at the prosecution's certainty. Then the film names the ground it's standing on: "Vidor is the headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan for the state of Texas," where "black people will not spend the night." A defense lawyer senses he is being watched and told the town that he came "to discredit David Harris." The subtext is that stories — the town's, the state's — are built and defended, and evidence is what gets in the way.
Theme
JusticeThe scene tests whether the state actually proved its case: the car meant to have been shot shows no mark.
CorruptionVidor's Klan ties and a prosecutor's unbeaten record shape what locals assume and what a jury is likely to believe.
このチャプターで学べること
- A missing bullet mark can say more than any testimony.
- Admitting a weakness first can be the strongest defense against a stereotype.
- A perfect record belongs to a person, not to the truth.
- A town's reputation is often stated in the flattest sentence.
発音のポイント
- mark on this — Link mark, on and this so they run together.
- daughter totaled — The t in daughter softens in American speech.
- sort of a — Sort of a blurs into a light sorta in fast speech.
She should have hit the damn thing one time. She didn't.The woman firing was an excellent shot, so she should have hit the car at least once. She didn't — which undercuts the claim that the car was ever shot at.
I admit, I'm sort of a gullible person.The speaker admits to believing people too easily, then argues it isn't naive: nearly everyone who claimed innocence turned out guilty — except Randall.
Douglas Mulder had a perfect win record.The prosecutor never lost a case before leaving the D.A.'s office, which is why he's called legendary and why the defense knows what they're up against.
Vidor is the headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan for the state of Texas.The town where the case is tried is described as a Klan stronghold, framing the racial fear surrounding the murdered officer and the trial.
It's a city where black people will not spend the night.Black travelers avoid the town entirely, not even stopping for gas, a measure of how dangerous it is for them.
このシーンについての質問
Why does the bullet damage matter so much?
The prosecution's story is a highway shooting. If the stolen car was fired at up close, it should show a mark, but the searchers find none — so the physical evidence never backs the story up.
Why does the film bring up Vidor's Klan history?
The trial happens in a town described as the Klan's Texas headquarters, where Black people won't even stop for gas — and whose residents believed the murdered officer was Black. The film shows what a local jury carried into court.
Who is Douglas Mulder?
The prosecutor with 'a perfect win record,' who left the D.A.'s office without a single defeat. The defense calls him legendary and knows they're facing more than evidence.
Why did the defense think they were being watched in Vidor?
A lawyer preparing the case suspects that from the moment he neared Vidor he was followed and observed, and that the prosecutor had already told the town he was there to discredit David Harris.
Was Randall Adams guilty?
The film argues the case against him was thin: only David Harris tied him to the killing, and physical evidence like the car with no bullet marks didn't hold up.
The Thin Blue Line · 全 20 章
すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 9 章scot-freeDavid Harris Gets Off Scot-Free
第 1 章meant to beRandall Meets David at the Gas Station
第 2 章give a damnDetective Forces Adams to Sign
第 3 章graveyard shiftOfficer Wood Shot at Traffic Stop
第 4 章swear up and downDavid Harris Brags About the Killing
第 5 章come to find outRecounting the Night of the Shooting
第 6 章acting strangeRandall Recounts the Motel Night
第 7 章went blankAdams's Statement Labeled a Confession
再生中 · 第 8 章under the impressionThe Car With No Bullet Marks
第 9 章scot-freeDavid Harris Gets Off Scot-Free
第 10 章cover forWhy the Story Was Two Hours Late
第 11 章refreshed her memoryMrs. Miller Changes Her Story
第 12 章hinge onA Couple Witnesses the Shooting
第 13 章wheels start rollingWitnesses Testify for Money
第 14 章without remorseDr. Grigson's Prison Test
第 15 章put food on the tableDr. Death Takes the Stand
第 16 章hard-nosedRandall Adams on Death Row
第 17 章set the wheels of justice in motionThe Case the Supreme Court Reversed
第 18 章came over meDavid Harris's Same M.O.
第 19 章tore my head offThe Scales Are Not Balanced
第 20 章point-blank rangeDavid Harris Confesses in the Bayou第 8 / 20 章 · 残り約 52 分