Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella is a documentary film which premiered in 2023.
It is about the life and career of the Canadian lawyer Rosalie Silberman Abella.
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Writer and director: Barry Avrich
** Editor: Nicolas Kleiman
** Producers: Barry Avrich and Mark Selby
** Executive producer: Jonas Prince
** Associate producer: Rosemary Sadler
** Music supervisor: Michael A. Perlmutter
** Language: English
** Subtitles: English
** Run time: 82 minutes
Several persons are interviewed in this film. Here are the names of the participants. Divided into three categories. Listed in alphabetical order:
# 1. The family
** Irving Abella (1940-2022) – husband - historian
** Rosalie Silberman Abella (born 1946) -wife - lawyer
** Jacob Abella – son - lawyer
** Zachary Abella – son - lawyer
# 2. Rosalie’s former clerks
** Charlotte Baigent
** Christopher Beaucage
** Gerald Chan
** Jocelyn Plant
# 3. Other participants
** Margaret Atwood (born 1939) – a writer – a friend
** Caroline Chen – a student at Harvard University
** Charles Joseph “Joe” Clark (born 1939) – a Canadian politician - Prime Minister of Canada 1979-1980
** Mary G. Condon – Dean of Osgoode Hall Law School 2019-2023
** Ron Daniels – president, Johns Hopkins University
** Bernie Farber (born 1951) – a writer - CEO, Canadian Jewish Congress 2005-2011
** Adam Gopnik (1956) – an American writer
** Charlotte Gray – a historian
** Kathryn O. Greenberg – an American lawyer - chairman of the board, Cardozo School of Law in New York City 2004-2010
** Ysabella Hazan – a law student – an activist
** Andromache Karatsanis (born 1955) – Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
** Michael Leshner and Michael Stark – first same-sex couple to be married in Canada
** Jamie Chai Yun Liew – Professor of Law, University of Ottawa
** Teagan Markin – a student at Harvard University
** Margaret Marshall (born 1944) – an American lawyer -Chief Justice of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court 1999-2010
** Paul Martin (born1938) – a politician – Prime Minister of Canada 2003-2006
** Martha Minow – former Dean, Harvard Law School
** Brian Mulroney (1939-2024) – a politician – Prime Minister of Canada 1984-1993
** Vic Toews (born 1952) – a Canadian politician – minister of public safety 2010-2013
Rosalie Abella lives in Canada, but she was not born in this country. Her parents were born in Poland. Her father Jacob was born in 1910. Her mother Fanny was born in 1917.
Since they were both Jewish and since they lived in Poland, they ended up in German concentration camps during World War II.
They were separated during the war, but they both survived the holocaust. When the war was over, they ended up in a camp for displaced persons in Stuttgart, Germany.
Rosalie was born in this camp in 1946. In 1950, when she was four years old, Rosalie and her parents immigrated to Canada.
Her father had studied law at a university in Poland, but when he came to Canada, he was told that he was not allowed to work as a lawyer, because he was not a Canadian citizen.
When young Rosalie heard this fact, she said:
“If you cannot be a lawyer, then I am going to be a lawyer.”
It was just a dream, but when she grew up, it became a reality.
She went to law school. While she was a student, she met a young man, a student of history, whose name was Irving Abella. She decided that he was the one for her, but at first, he was not interested.
He was not ready accept her plan. But she did not give up. She did not want anybody else. After three years, he finally accepted her plan: they were married in 1968.
They had two sons: Jacob and Zachary. Rosalie and Irving were married until he died in 2022.
Interviews for this film were recorded in 2021 and 2022, while Irving was still alive. All four members of the family appear in this film.
Rosalie graduated from law school in 1972. She worked as a lawyer for four years. In 1976, she was appointed to the Ontario Family Court. She was the youngest and the first pregnant judge in Canadian history.
In 1983 and 1984, she was the sole member of a federal royal commission on equality of employment.
As commissioner, she coined the term employment equity, meaning more equality and more justice in employment.
As commissioner, she focused on four groups which were facing barriers in employment: women, minorities, people with disabilities, and Aboriginal People (also known as the First Nations).
In her work, she did not look at the law as a set of rules and regulations which had to be obeyed. She regarded the law as a tool which may be used to create justice. For this, she was praised by some and criticized by others.
She did not worry about the critical voices. She felt she had to be true to herself and her own sense of justice and fairness. In spite of some criticism and some objections, her recommendations were accepted.
In 1988, she was invited to moderate a televised debate between three top politicians:
** Brian Mulroney
** John Turner
** Ed Broadbent
During the debate, she interrupted Brian Mulroney more than once, because he violated the rules of the debate.
The next day, when Rosalie spoke to her mother, her mother said she was shocked, because her daughter had interrupted Brian Mulroney. Rosalie explained she had to do this, because he did not follow the rules.
Was Brian Mulroney upset about it? Apparently not. Four years later, in 1992, he appointed her to the Ontario Court of Appeal. If he was angry with her, he would hardly have made this appointment!
In 2004, Rosalie was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada. She was the first Jewish woman to sit on the court. She was a Justice of the court for seventeen years.
Canada has a mandatory retirement age for members of the Supreme Court. When a member is 75, it is time to retire. She left the court in July 2021 when she turned 75.
This film covers her life and her career in great detail. One part of the story is told by herself and members of her family. Other parts of the story are told by people who know her and people who have worked with her.
Music is important in her life. In this film, music is used on several occasions to set the proper mood. The music used in the film is well-chosen by music supervisor Michael A. Perlmutter.
This film opens with a brief statement in which Rosalie explains how she wants to work as a lawyer:
“I will never cater to the majority. I am prepared to be impartial and unpopular and do things that protect minorities.”
What do reviewers say about this film?
On IMDb it has a rating of 83 percent. One user review posted on IMDb offers a rating of 90 percent.
At the moment, there is no rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The number of reviews is not yet high enough to establish an official rating.
At the moment, there are only two reviews posted on Rotten Tomatoes. But both of them are positive.
I understand the positive reviews, and I agree with them. This is a great film about a person who has had an amazing life and an amazing career.
From a camp for displaced persons in a Germany that was devastated by war to the Supreme Court of Canada.
In her work, she has tried to focus on human rights, on justice and equality, and it seems she has made a considerable impact on Canadian society.
The story of her life and career deserves to be told, and in this film, it is done very well.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
PS. While this film is about the life and career of Rosalie, the director has also found the time to include some information about the life and career of her husband.
Irving Abella was a historian. Together with Harold Troper, he wrote a book about a dark chapter of Canadian history:
None Is Enough:
Canada and the Jews of Europe, 1933-1948
This book, which was published in 1983, documents Canadian policy with regard to Jewish refugees from Europe. The policy was clear and constant:
They are not welcome!
When asked how many Jewish refugees from Europe Canada was prepared to accept, a Canadian government official answered:
“None is too many!”
This blunt statement was used as the title of the book. Canadian policy of immigration did not change until 1948. Only two years later, in 1950, Rosalie and her parents arrived in Canada.
This book was selected as one of the 100 most important Canadian books ever written and published, chosen by a panel of experts for the Literary Review of Canada.
REFERENCES
The following items are available online
Sean Fine
"How Rosalie Abella's personal history shaped her legal legacy,"
Toronto Globe & Mail
26 June 2021
Jeff Raikes
"Canada's Top Judge Is the Judicial Role Model We Need,"
Forbes
29 August 2024
*****
Without Precedent:
The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella
This documentary film premiered in 2023
*****
Irving and Rosalie Abella
during an interview
for this film
*****
None Is Too Many:
Canada and the Jews of Europe,
1933-1948
By Irving Abella and Harold Troper
(first published 1983)
*****
Rosalie Abella
when she was a young lawyer
*****
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