Goats with Danny Boone: Animal Trial, Historical Truth or Total Fiction?

On February 21, Fred Cavae will present his new production Les Chèvres! After the drama Adieu Monsieur Haffmann, which attracted 700,000 viewers in 2022, the director turned to comedy, hiring the services of Danny Boone and Jerome Commander.

History takes us to the 17th century! Laughed at in a bar, Maitre Pompignac thinks he has found his life’s work: defending the young and innocent Josette, wrongly accused of murdering the Marshal… but without the hope of his adversary, the powerful and famous. Maître Valvert and especially Josette, who turns out to be none other than… a goat!

Animal trial, historical truth or completely fictional story?

Although the starting point of the goats seems completely crazy, it is based on verified historical truth! In the 17th century, it was possible to chase animals. Fred Kawai made a deal with reality for the purposes of his comedy. The film’s small tagline also sets the tone: “Based on a true story…or almost”.

“At one time, in France, we could try animals, in every court with lawyers, judges, juries… and if they were found guilty, they were sentenced to the same punishment as humans: hanging, quartering, impalement. “Fred Kavae explains.

“What’s unbelievable is that the owners of the animals were also prosecuted and faced the same risk of death. We saw people hanged with their animals!”, the director specifies. As explained, animal testing has been widespread in Europe for a very long time French culture :

“Pigs that eat drowning newborns, puppies that have been ordered by a court to stop attacking fish… For almost a millennium in Europe, farm animals and other vermin could be brought before a court and tried using Latin rhetoric. Quotations and presumably historical allusions”emphasizes the media.

Animals on the scaffold!

“Excommunication, public exorcism, death sentence, judgment in absentia… these stories seem so amazing to us today that they were long considered imaginary. It should be noted that 90% of animals were brought to justice in Europe out of 13. And the 17th century is pigs (thirty-five cases of pigs are listed in the archive).”

“I think that we are seeing here a kind of anthropomorphic projection on this particular animal. But the reason is probably more pragmatic… These animals wandering in the countryside and in the city cause a lot of accidents. They rob shops, destroy. They knock over gardens, children, sometimes they start swallowing newborns.”Historian Michel Rousseau explains.

The animal, beyond good and evil

“So we bring them to court with the idea that they are responsible beings, maybe they can understand what is good and evil, we give them a lawyer, we pay a guard during the trial, you have to watch them and feed them.”he says.

The historian also tells us that trials were conducted only before civil justice: “Bailewicks, town councils, merchants, priests, or princes, or even parliaments. This criminal justice had a prison. The animal that attacked and fought with people was imprisoned, and became the neighbor of some of the imprisoned robbers.”

Moreover, even today it happens that some animals are blamed and punished. In 2003, the Council of Elders of the village of Akpinar in Turkey sentenced an aggressive donkey to death. Recently, in India, a pigeon was suspected of spying for China. The bird was released after spending 8 months in prison.

From this historical reality, comical to say the least, Fred Kawai has created an ambitious comedy, especially in terms of scenery and costumes. The feature film will be released in theaters on February 21.