Used Innocence (1989)

Because it dealt with a sensational murder case, Used Innocence garnered more attention outside experimental film circles than any of James Benning's other films, but its unconventional structure and deliberate ambiguity baffled mainstream reviewers unaccustomed to his style. The film concerns the case of "Bambi" Bembenek, an attractive ex-police officer convicted -- in a controversial trial -- of brutally murdering the family of her lover. After spending a number of years in prison, her conviction was overturned on appeal. Benning became fascinated with her after reading about her case and began corresponding with her while she was still in jail. Used Innocence includes excerpts from their correspondence -- which gradually becomes more personal and even flirtatious as the movie progresses -- along with examinations of the evidence, shots of landscapes important to the case, and haunting, intentionally mundane reenactments of events in her life, including her time in prison. In his voice-over narration, Benning freely admits his attraction to Bembenek and how that attraction came to color his view of the questions surrounding her guilt. By the end of the film, it becomes clear that the title refers as much to the filmmaker as to his subject. ~ Tom Vick, All Movie Guide