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Clip description
Bertram Wainer, in his own words, explains how he plans to break the law in order to test it. He organises an abortion for a 21-year-old woman, then informs the media and goes to the police. When they do not arrest him, he repeats the process with a new case.
Curator’s notes
The filmmakers make sparing but effective use of archive footage in this clip. Shots of a young couple walking down a city street at night provide the social context for the period while footage of a medical procedure in a doctor’s surgery suggests the gravity of the documentary’s content and the vulnerability of the patient. A voice-over provides information about the test case of 21-year-old 'Wilma’ who is having an abortion performed by Wainer.
A short clip of a police officer crossing the road makes for an appropriate establishing shot for footage from a 1960s interview with Wainer about the threat of arrest. The newspaper article shown at the end of the clip advances the continuing story of Wainer’s challenge to the police and adds support to the comments made in the modern interview just preceding it.
Other storytelling techniques featured in the clip include recreated footage of Wainer walking and in voice-over and interviews with people with knew Wainer and were present at the time the events were unfolding.
