I Confess (DVD)

...thrilling and engaging plot-line and I really enjoyed watching this.

==MY PERSONAL THOUGHT==


Alfred Hitchcock is a multi-talented pioneer of crime/thriller genre movies in modern world cinema. He has covered a diverse ground as the themes of his movies. Most of the themes/story lines are very unique, suspenseful and well executed on-screen. Mr. Hitchcock got the idea for directing “I Confess” from a 1902 French play. ...
...each character equal importance. As I told before, the story of this movie is very unique and it is an extremely difficult task to grab the attention of viewers, when they already know about the main criminal and his brutal crime. But, here we can experience the supreme talent of legendary Alfred Hitchcock. Despite telling the main twist in the first couple of scenes, he still manages to hold the undivided attention and interest of a normal viewer. ... more

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Multi-talented director Alfred Hitchcock directed and also produced the movie “I Confess”. This crime/thriller genre movie was released in 1953 and famous American actor Montgomery Clift played the title role as Father Logan.The story of this movie based on a 1902 French play and the script re-wrote by George Tabori. The story of this movie revolves around guilty conscience of a German immigrant and his activities.

MAIN CHARACTERS

• Montgomery Clift plays the role of Father Michael Logan (An ex freedom-fighter and a kind-hearted Catholic priest in Quebec City)
• O.E. Hasse plays the role of Otto Keller(A German immigrant, who comes in Quebec city looking for work and Father Logan appointed him as the caretaker of the church)
• Anne Baxter plays the role of Ruth Grandfort (Wife of a famous Quebec Parliament member and she was romantically involved with Father Logan before war. )
• Karl Malden Inspector Larrue(A hard-working and honest police detective, who tries to solve the recent murder)

PLOT SYNOPSIS

This movie opens with a murder scene, where the German immigrant Otto Keller murders his employer (a rich lawyer named Villette). Later Mr. Keller visits his good friend and mentor Father Logan and confesses his crime. Police gets to know about this murder and starts looking for the murderer.

So the story tells us, how the local police department able to discover the motive and hidden conspiracies behind the murder, and how they catch the killer and punish him. This movie has a very thrilling and engaging plot-line and I really enjoyed watching this.

MY PERSONAL THOUGHT

Alfred Hitchcock is a multi-talented pioneer of crime/thriller genre movies in modern world cinema. He has covered a diverse ground as the themes of his movies. Most of the themes/story lines are very unique, suspenseful and well executed on-screen. Mr. Hitchcock got the idea for directing “I Confess” from a 1902 French play. Though, he used a famous writer to rewrite the whole script to make it more presentable and believable on screen.I am really impressed with this movie. This movie is distinctly different from other Hitchcock’s thriller movies. Here, the viewers get to know about the killer in a first couple of scenes. So there is no suspenseful theme (like “who did it and why did it”) in this movie. Instead this movie dealt with the guilty conscience of the killer and how he acts after the crime. This movie gives a vivid but honest idea about complex human mind, which leads a person to do very strange activities.

German Immigrant Otto Keller and his wife Alma came to Quebec City, Canada looking for a better life. However, they could not find a decent job with good money. So they work hard in various places to earn their living. Mr. Hitchcock presented the Character of Otto Keller in such an impressive and excellent way that viewers instantly feel connected with this character. Mr. Hitchcock did not rush out to reveal the main twist of this movie. Instead, he took the time to explain each character and their different background to the viewers. He did not specify on a certain character in this movie, but he emphasizes on the whole story-line and gives each character equal importance. As I told before, the story of this movie is very unique and it is an extremely difficult task to grab the attention of viewers, when they already know about the main criminal and his brutal crime. But, here we can experience the supreme talent of legendary Alfred Hitchcock. Despite telling the main twist in the first couple of scenes, he still manages to hold the undivided attention and interest of a normal viewer. I really enjoy the tense situation and thrilling moments of this movie. I really appreciate the way Mr. Hitchcock reveals each part of the story and connects each part to one another. It has a very moving and continuous flow in the story line which is truly brilliant and highly enjoyable.

Famous American actor Montgomery Clift plays the title character in this movie. Mr. Clift was a highly talented actor and received numerous prestigious awards for his brilliant acting as well as four nominations for Academy Awards. This was one and only time, when this two highly talented personality (Hitchcock and Clift) worked together in the same movie. Here, Mr. Clift portrayed a very difficult and sensitive character of Father Logan. He did an excellent job in this character. Father Logan is very kind, brave and devoted catholic priest. He truly believes in religious values and always tries his best to serve the people. He has a brilliant facial expression with supple body movements. He has a gracious and strong personality on screen and he also got some brilliant dialogues in this movie. I really enjoyed the acting of M. Clift in this movie, and I truly believe he was the best choice to portray the character of Father Logan.

~RELIGION AND SOCIAL VALUES~

Mr. Hitchcock handled a very complicated and touchy subject in this movie. He shows the real time reaction of general people about priesthood and morality. Father Logan is a young priest and truly believes in religious values. But he got strangled in a murder case and his earlier romantic life was exposed to general public unexpectedly. Media and lawyers framed this young priest in a very wrong way and gave a wrong expression that, he is still romantically involved with a lady. So the movie tells us, how the general public received this news and how they reacted. I really appreciate the way Mr. Hitchcock dealt such an important and delicate issue of society. He did not try to preach something to the viewers; instead he just showed us what could have happened. This movie felt like a documentary at times and bit slow, but honestly I have learned a lot from this. He also presented the reaction from catholic churches about the acts of father Logan.

General people often forget that every priest/religious figure is human, and they obviously have humanly emotions just like us. But, they try their best to control and overcome these emotions and help us to seek the truth and happiness in our life in the most right way. Another important thing he discussed in this movie is the importance of Confessional in Catholic churches. He showed us, how an honest and virtuous priest should act on penitent’s confession. He also tells us, what length a priest should go to protect a confession. It is amazing to see how sophisticatedly Mr. Hitchcock handled these matters without giving the wrong, dishonest and partial expressions to general viewers.

There is a very interesting sequence on court-room drama in this movie. Here the big-headed arrogant lawyers were trying their best to implicate the crime on young priest. But young priest was strong and firm in his believes and answered them precisely considering both social and religious aspects.

Lawyer: Father Logan, when you decide to become a priest?
Father Logan : After the war.
Lawyer: In becoming a priest, were you perhaps trying to hide from something?
Father Logan : I had never thought of the priesthood as offering a hiding place.

Father Logan stated very clearly and fearlessly that he became a priest not to hide from his past life but to serve the church and help the people. I absolutely admired the way Mr. Hitchcock presented the character of Father Logan in this movie. Father Logan is a great example of a dedicated and honest priest. I really like the character of Father Logan.

'~Love and Infatuation~

Ruth Grandfort is married to a famous politician in Quebec City. She was romantically involved with Father Logan before the war. But later she got married and hearing upon this news Father Logan decided to join and serve the Church. Ruth still thinks Father Logan loves her and feels for her. But in reality Father Logan has overcome all these emotions and devoted himself to church. Just because Ruth loves Father Logan so much, she often does some silly acts and makes Father uncomfortable. Still Father Logan tries his best to help Ruth and to show her the right way.

Ruth Grandfort : I have been married seven years and I have not changed. Are you afraid of me? ...why?..You are in love with me. You have always been in love with me. You have not changed.
Father Logan : Ruth, I have changed. You have changed.
Ruth Grandfort : You want me to pretend that?
Father Logan : No, I don’t want you to pretend. Ruth, do you understand? I chose to be what I am. I believe in what I am. I want you to see things as they are and not go on hurting yourself.

Here, Father Logan clearly states that, he did not choose to become a priest because Ruth married another guy and he was heart-broken. He became a priest because he truly believes in it and wanted to serve. But, Ruth is very persistent and constantly tries to persuade Father Logan. Mr. Hitchcock presented this complex yet a very meaningful relationship on screen very vibrant and convincing way.

DIRECTION AND CINEMATOGRAPHY

There should be no question about the direction of Mr. Hitchcock. He is a versatile genius and directed some outstanding movies. This time, he chose the beautiful and picturesque Canadian city Quebec as the background of this movie. There are some wonderful churches, old fashioned roads and houses makes this movie more colourful and very eye-catching.

VIEWERS RECEPTION

This movie was received mainly positive by both the viewers and also movie critics. Currently this movie holds a rating of 7.2/10 voted by just over five thousand viewers. It was also received positively in Rotten Tomatoes and has 84% fresh ratings.

Movie Information : http://hitchcock.tv/mov/i_confess/confess.html
Movie trailer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H43IqD7mEg
IMDB Rating : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045897/
RottenTomatoes Rating : ' http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_confess/

FINAL THOUGHT AND RECOMMENDATION

Ok this is more than 50 years old movie and it’s also not a colour movie. It’s a black and white movie but directed by the legendary director Alfred Hitchcock and has a remarkable and thought-provoking story-line. I thoroughly enjoyed this crime/thriller movie and I would love to see it again. This movie is an absolute masterpiece and I highly recommend you to buy the DVD and watch it. It’s only one and half hour long and well worth of your time. You can buy the DVD from amazon.co.uk and it will cost you only £5.

Thank you very much for reading my review.

©Gladiator007

***This is a movie only review and also posted on Dooyoo and Helium under the same username***
 

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