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| Inside Netflix’s Amanda Knox: ‘She was cast as a she-devil’ | Inside Netflix’s Amanda Knox: ‘She was cast as a she-devil’ |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| On the morning of 1 November 2007, in Perugia, Italy, Meredith Kercher lay beneath a duvet, in the house she shared with Amanda Knox. She was naked but for a T-shirt, covered in cuts and bruises, her neck cut so deep her head was almost severed from her body. | On the morning of 1 November 2007, in Perugia, Italy, Meredith Kercher lay beneath a duvet, in the house she shared with Amanda Knox. She was naked but for a T-shirt, covered in cuts and bruises, her neck cut so deep her head was almost severed from her body. |
| The police footage from that morning, revealed for the first time in a Netflix documentary, shows the sheer brutality of her murder. Blood is smeared in finger marks across the walls, running in deep rivulets across the floor. | The police footage from that morning, revealed for the first time in a Netflix documentary, shows the sheer brutality of her murder. Blood is smeared in finger marks across the walls, running in deep rivulets across the floor. |
| “There are those who believe in my innocence and those who believe in my guilt. There is no in-between,” we hear Amanda Knox, Kercher’s flatmate, say in voiceover. “If I’m guilty, I’m the ultimate figure to fear, because I’m not the obvious one. But, on the other hand, if I’m innocent, it means that everyone is vulnerable, and that is everyone’s nightmare. Either I’m a psychopath in sheep’s clothing, or I am you.” | “There are those who believe in my innocence and those who believe in my guilt. There is no in-between,” we hear Amanda Knox, Kercher’s flatmate, say in voiceover. “If I’m guilty, I’m the ultimate figure to fear, because I’m not the obvious one. But, on the other hand, if I’m innocent, it means that everyone is vulnerable, and that is everyone’s nightmare. Either I’m a psychopath in sheep’s clothing, or I am you.” |
| The death of Meredith Kercher was like something from a horror movie, and so, for 10 years, that’s how it has been reported, in a drip-drip of headlines, innuendo and suggestions – “a sex game gone wrong”, with Kercher cast as victim of a “satanic ritual” presided over by the “she-devil” Knox. | The death of Meredith Kercher was like something from a horror movie, and so, for 10 years, that’s how it has been reported, in a drip-drip of headlines, innuendo and suggestions – “a sex game gone wrong”, with Kercher cast as victim of a “satanic ritual” presided over by the “she-devil” Knox. |
| As Rod Blackhurst, who directed the film with Brian McGinn, says: “This dark and tragic event had morphed into this episodic piece of consumer entertainment, and presented to us in the most salacious way possible, over and over and over again.” | As Rod Blackhurst, who directed the film with Brian McGinn, says: “This dark and tragic event had morphed into this episodic piece of consumer entertainment, and presented to us in the most salacious way possible, over and over and over again.” |
| “The search for justice for Meredith Kercher descended into a series of headlines, and the very real people involved became cartoons, depending on whether you saw them as guilty or innocent,” adds McGinn. | “The search for justice for Meredith Kercher descended into a series of headlines, and the very real people involved became cartoons, depending on whether you saw them as guilty or innocent,” adds McGinn. |
| Blackhurst, 35, from upstate New York, and McGinn, 31, from Palo Alto, California, are debut film-makers, their only credits a handful of small-time comedy shorts. The film was born after they gained a serendipitous “in” – a mutual friend introduced them to Knox just a few weeks after she returned to her native Seattle following her acquittal. A little to their surprise, she granted them a meeting. | Blackhurst, 35, from upstate New York, and McGinn, 31, from Palo Alto, California, are debut film-makers, their only credits a handful of small-time comedy shorts. The film was born after they gained a serendipitous “in” – a mutual friend introduced them to Knox just a few weeks after she returned to her native Seattle following her acquittal. A little to their surprise, she granted them a meeting. |
| After Knox cautiously agreed to the project, the directors spent years gaining access to the main players of the case – Knox’s Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, the sombre Italian prosecutor Giuliano Mignini and the voluble Nick Pisa, a freelance journalist who broke the story for the Daily Mail. | After Knox cautiously agreed to the project, the directors spent years gaining access to the main players of the case – Knox’s Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, the sombre Italian prosecutor Giuliano Mignini and the voluble Nick Pisa, a freelance journalist who broke the story for the Daily Mail. |
| “We wanted to understand how it felt for the people at the heart of the story, from the inside out,” says Blackhurst. “These people found themselves as entertaining characters in a story made about them. But beyond these aggrandised, constructed caricatures were people trying to understand what had happened to them so they could try and move past it. That’s what we were trying to explore.” | “We wanted to understand how it felt for the people at the heart of the story, from the inside out,” says Blackhurst. “These people found themselves as entertaining characters in a story made about them. But beyond these aggrandised, constructed caricatures were people trying to understand what had happened to them so they could try and move past it. That’s what we were trying to explore.” |
| Kercher’s murder and Knox’s supposedly rampant sexual appetite were linked by Mignini’s prosecution. Knox’s motive for the murder of a girl she scarcely knew, the prosecutor explains in the film, was her “lack of morality”, her desire for “pleasure at any cost”, which compelled her to wield a knife “that teases then plunges” into Kercher’s neck. | |
| But of particular focus is how the mass media took this material and ran with it. “We realised this story was about the changing landscape of journalism itself,” Blackhurst says. “In 2007, we saw the beginning of Facebook and the rise of digital media, alongside the takeover of the 24-hour news cycle. That gave rise to clickbait, of stories being driven by headlines rather than reporting in the traditional sense of the word.” | But of particular focus is how the mass media took this material and ran with it. “We realised this story was about the changing landscape of journalism itself,” Blackhurst says. “In 2007, we saw the beginning of Facebook and the rise of digital media, alongside the takeover of the 24-hour news cycle. That gave rise to clickbait, of stories being driven by headlines rather than reporting in the traditional sense of the word.” |
| When the film premiered at the Toronto film festival, the crowd were audibly repulsed by Pisa, the journalist happy to liken his front-page exclusives – about a young girl raped and tortured to death – to the sensation of having sex. “A murder always gets people going,” he says in the film. “Gruesome murder, throat slit, semi-naked, blood everywhere. What more do you want in a story?” | When the film premiered at the Toronto film festival, the crowd were audibly repulsed by Pisa, the journalist happy to liken his front-page exclusives – about a young girl raped and tortured to death – to the sensation of having sex. “A murder always gets people going,” he says in the film. “Gruesome murder, throat slit, semi-naked, blood everywhere. What more do you want in a story?” |
| With swarms of journalists competing with Pisa on the ground in Perugia, it’s easy to see why the legal proceedings became a trial by media. Yet the directors are keen to defend Pisa. “Nick stands for a new generation of freelance journalists who, in the absence of dedicated correspondents from traditional news organisations, can report on stories for a large number of outlets – from tabloid news to traditional papers to television networks,” says McGinn. | With swarms of journalists competing with Pisa on the ground in Perugia, it’s easy to see why the legal proceedings became a trial by media. Yet the directors are keen to defend Pisa. “Nick stands for a new generation of freelance journalists who, in the absence of dedicated correspondents from traditional news organisations, can report on stories for a large number of outlets – from tabloid news to traditional papers to television networks,” says McGinn. |
| “But the film is also an indictment of the culture that wants to consume these stories,” says Blackhurst. “The people who want to cast the stone at Nick are often the same people logging on every morning, keen to read the latest, grisliest titbits from the case.” | “But the film is also an indictment of the culture that wants to consume these stories,” says Blackhurst. “The people who want to cast the stone at Nick are often the same people logging on every morning, keen to read the latest, grisliest titbits from the case.” |
| Pisa was happy to feed the beast. He got hold of a copy of Knox’s diary, leaked from the prison in which she was being held, in which she detailed her sexual history after being told, erroneously, that she was HIV-positive. “I think the photocopying places in Perugia must have made a fortune,” Pisa jokes in the film. | Pisa was happy to feed the beast. He got hold of a copy of Knox’s diary, leaked from the prison in which she was being held, in which she detailed her sexual history after being told, erroneously, that she was HIV-positive. “I think the photocopying places in Perugia must have made a fortune,” Pisa jokes in the film. |
| “Nick is extremely good at what he’s asked to do, which is to find headlines every six hours for a news cycle that rolls on 24 hours a day,” says Blackhurst. “Just look at the comments thread that follows any story about Amanda. It says a lot.” | “Nick is extremely good at what he’s asked to do, which is to find headlines every six hours for a news cycle that rolls on 24 hours a day,” says Blackhurst. “Just look at the comments thread that follows any story about Amanda. It says a lot.” |
| The coverage marks a turning point, the directors say: the mingling of tabloid and broadsheet newspapers in the wild west of the internet, all in pursuit of traffic and eyeballs. “The story became driven by headlines,” McGinn says. “It was one of the first great examples of this post-truth age we now live in, where people respond to something primarily by how it makes them feel.” | The coverage marks a turning point, the directors say: the mingling of tabloid and broadsheet newspapers in the wild west of the internet, all in pursuit of traffic and eyeballs. “The story became driven by headlines,” McGinn says. “It was one of the first great examples of this post-truth age we now live in, where people respond to something primarily by how it makes them feel.” |
| Knox is now a global celebrity. At the airport on her way to the premiere, paparazzi swarmed round her and her new fiance, although she gave no interviews. In 2012, she agreed to a $4m (£3m) book deal with HarperCollins about her trial and imprisonment in Italy, and her eventual acquittal and release. | Knox is now a global celebrity. At the airport on her way to the premiere, paparazzi swarmed round her and her new fiance, although she gave no interviews. In 2012, she agreed to a $4m (£3m) book deal with HarperCollins about her trial and imprisonment in Italy, and her eventual acquittal and release. |
| She claims, in the film, to hate the attention and the impact it has had on her life. “The whole world knew who I had sex with – seven men!” she exclaims. “And yet I was some heinous whore – bestial, sex-obsessed and unnatural.” | She claims, in the film, to hate the attention and the impact it has had on her life. “The whole world knew who I had sex with – seven men!” she exclaims. “And yet I was some heinous whore – bestial, sex-obsessed and unnatural.” |
| It’s clear that Knox was the victim of what is now called “slut-shaming”; her sexual desire as a young woman was used to implicate her in the brutal murder. “Were you into deviant sex?” she was asked in a primetime interview with a middle-aged man playing lay preacher. “Insensitive question, but hey, we’ve got to get to where this is.” | It’s clear that Knox was the victim of what is now called “slut-shaming”; her sexual desire as a young woman was used to implicate her in the brutal murder. “Were you into deviant sex?” she was asked in a primetime interview with a middle-aged man playing lay preacher. “Insensitive question, but hey, we’ve got to get to where this is.” |
| “Is Amanda’s sexual history something we should consider as part of the case, or is it a judgment based on how we perceive female sexuality, the question of whether a woman is allowed to have multiple lovers?” Blackhurst asks. | “Is Amanda’s sexual history something we should consider as part of the case, or is it a judgment based on how we perceive female sexuality, the question of whether a woman is allowed to have multiple lovers?” Blackhurst asks. |
| “People look into Amanda’s eyes as if that’s going to be reveal something about the physical evidence of the crime scene,” McGinn says. “She is talked of as this cipher who can accidentally reveal something about the case, based on whether or not she swallows, or blinks her eyes, or looks away at a certain moment.” | “People look into Amanda’s eyes as if that’s going to be reveal something about the physical evidence of the crime scene,” McGinn says. “She is talked of as this cipher who can accidentally reveal something about the case, based on whether or not she swallows, or blinks her eyes, or looks away at a certain moment.” |
| And yet, at the heart of this film, there remains a glaring absence. | And yet, at the heart of this film, there remains a glaring absence. |
| Meredith Kercher was a 21-year-old student from Coulsdon, south London. She studied politics and Italian at the University of Leeds and worked as a tour guide and barmaid in Perugia to support her studies. The daughter of a British father and Indian mother, she had two brothers and a sister, and aspired to be a journalist like her father, John. Beyond that, little else is known of Meredith. Her family have always doggedly protected her privacy, as well as their own. | Meredith Kercher was a 21-year-old student from Coulsdon, south London. She studied politics and Italian at the University of Leeds and worked as a tour guide and barmaid in Perugia to support her studies. The daughter of a British father and Indian mother, she had two brothers and a sister, and aspired to be a journalist like her father, John. Beyond that, little else is known of Meredith. Her family have always doggedly protected her privacy, as well as their own. |
| So, the person at the centre of the trial of the century, as it was dubbed, and the circumstances that led to her torture, rape and unthinkably violent death, has remained abstracted – throughout the trial, and, subsequently, in this film. Kercher’s family are only seen in archival press footage, as well as one short interview that her grieving mother, Arline, gave on a street in the UK, eight years after her daughter’s death. | So, the person at the centre of the trial of the century, as it was dubbed, and the circumstances that led to her torture, rape and unthinkably violent death, has remained abstracted – throughout the trial, and, subsequently, in this film. Kercher’s family are only seen in archival press footage, as well as one short interview that her grieving mother, Arline, gave on a street in the UK, eight years after her daughter’s death. |
| The directors reached out to the Kercher family to ask them to be part of the film, but never got a reply. Before its release to the press, the film was sent to the family, but there’s been no word on whether or not they have watched it. | The directors reached out to the Kercher family to ask them to be part of the film, but never got a reply. Before its release to the press, the film was sent to the family, but there’s been no word on whether or not they have watched it. |
| It left the film-makers in a bind. “The death of Meredith was never the focal point of the way people were talking about this story,” Blackhurst acknowledges. “Meredith’s death became all about Amanda. There needs to be a constant reminder that this became entertainment, and no longer a question of the search for truth – of what happened that evening at that house in November 2007.” | It left the film-makers in a bind. “The death of Meredith was never the focal point of the way people were talking about this story,” Blackhurst acknowledges. “Meredith’s death became all about Amanda. There needs to be a constant reminder that this became entertainment, and no longer a question of the search for truth – of what happened that evening at that house in November 2007.” |
| It’s left to Mignini, the prosecutor of the case, to hint at the tragic cost of this viral phenomenon of a story. “When the family arrived in Perugia, they requested to see Meredith’s body,” Mignini says. “And her mother, with a gesture, and without saying anything, asked if she could give Meredith a kiss.” | It’s left to Mignini, the prosecutor of the case, to hint at the tragic cost of this viral phenomenon of a story. “When the family arrived in Perugia, they requested to see Meredith’s body,” Mignini says. “And her mother, with a gesture, and without saying anything, asked if she could give Meredith a kiss.” |
| Amanda Knox is available to watch on Netflix from on 30 September. | Amanda Knox is available to watch on Netflix from on 30 September. |