A powerful drama with numerous allegories and moral challenges!
This review is for the 2004 Warner Brothers DVD.
I've been a big fan of Hitchcock since I saw the movie "The Birds" in the late 1960's and since then I thought I'd seen all of his movies on either video, TV or the big screen at some movie festivals. I recently bought the nine DVD "Signature Collection" and had seen all but two movies, one of which was "I Confess". I really didn't know what to expect and was a bit disturbed with the artwork which shows a priest holding a beautiful woman.
The storyline involves an immigrant named Otto Keller (O.E. Hasse) who works as a maintenance man in a Catholic Church in Quebec. One night Otto comes into the cathedral and sees a priest named Father Logan (Montgomery Clift) and asks the priest hear his confessions. Otto confesses to Father Logan that he killed someone earlier that night. Father Logan goes to that house of the murdered man the following morning, but the police have already arrived and Logan also runs into Ruth Grandfort (Ann Baxter), a woman he knows. The police have only one lead and it appears that some witnesses saw a priest leave the scene of the crime. The plot thickens intensely as Father Logan becomes a primary suspect, and his credibility is challenged since he appears to be involved with a married woman yet because of his oath as a priest, he cannot divulge the confessions of the killer. This sets up the rest of the movie for plenty drama and suspense.
This was one of those movies that sticks with you long after you watch it and gives you a lot to think about. There could be many parallels made to the life of Jesus who served and sacrificed his life for the sake of the sinners of the world (although Father Logan is in no way a Messiah). Other allegories include being ridiculed and scorned for acts he never committed or for being compassionate and forgiving for those who've harmed him. In all, its a story of compassion, sacrifice and love, but perhaps most of all staying true to your oath and calling, even in the face of death. The acting was nothing extra special, but I would say Karl Maldon was the best of the bunch. The script was superb and the picture certainly had that "Hitchcock look", especially in the opening segment at night. In case anyone cares, I'm not a Roman Catholic, but a Christian who attends a protestant church, yet I found this movie very inspiring. It was also refreshing to see a movie that wasn't trying to viciously scandalize the church as many movies do today. This film may be more for acquired tastes, but for myself, I was thoroughly pleased with the story, and was more challenged than entertained.
The DVD quality is nearly perfect for a movie this old. The transfer is sharp and blemish-free, but seemed a tad grainy in some scenes. The sound was fine and there were a few bonus features including a commentary segment about "I Confess".
Movie: A
DVD Quality: A-
Dramatic Hitchcock on the Highest Level in Small Film...
Every time Alfred Hitchcock made a film, he offered a unique and intriguing experience even though some of his films never reached the same glory as Rebecca (1940), Notorious (1946), and Vertigo (1958). One of these smaller films is I Confess (1951); however, it still carries the Hitchcockian trademark of visual brilliance with which he mesmerizes an audience. Nonetheless, I Confess offers a great story that plays strongly with visual and social symbolism while Hitchcock emphasizes the different views of society through strong contrasts. The black and white photography enhances these strong contrasts, as it offers much for the audience to ponder.
The opening scene brings to mind the opening in Citizen Kane (1941), but here the scene has a completely different symbolical meaning. There is a lower angle shot of a castle with the sky in the background and a small city in the foreground. The black and white photography creates a concentrated contrast, as the castle appears almost black. Simultaneously, apprehensive music plays in the background which enhances the ominous atmosphere, as several cuts display directional arrows stating, "Direction". These scenes also inform that the story takes place in Canada, later it discloses its exact location, Quebec. Eventually these arrows guide the audience through an open window into a room where a body lays lifeless on the floor while a moving door drapes moves suggesting that someone recently left the room. Strikingly, the audience will recognize the person who left as the murderer, as the viewer's curiosity grows exponentially.
Through the eye of the camera, the audience gets to follow this dubious character dressed in a long dark robe, as the person enters a Catholic church while the film's protagonist, Father Logan (Montgomery Clift), observes the person entering the church. Father Logan makes his way to the sanctuary to see who it is, as he finds a troubled man who confesses to him that he has just killed a man. For those who do not know, the rules of the Sacrament of the Confession state that Father Logan cannot reveal anything from a confession. This reasoning stems from the idea that what a person shares with the priest is only a matter between the person seeking absolution and God, as the priest merely functions a sounding board. Thus, the knowledge that Father Logan acquires that evening in the sanctuary must remain a secret, as long as he wants to remain a priest for the Catholic Church.
The story unfolds in a subtle and delicate manner, as if a whisper could ruin the whole scenario. However, no whisper breaks the fragile thread on which the audience ventures through Hitchcock's masterful artistry. Yet, the audience waits in deep suspenseful anticipation that Father Logan will spill the beans in regards to his sinister knowledge. Instead, the story becomes more intricate, as further details begin to taint the truth. Cleverly, Hitchcock displays his understanding for society and the psychology of the audience, as he makes Father Logan appear as both a villain and a saint. This is also evident throughout the film, as Hitchcock frames several scenes in a way that expresses the notion of Father Logan's duality.
Hitchcock's I Confess offers a stunning cinematic journey where the true mystery does not rest within a murder. No, the true mystery in this film appears through the mirror of the society that Hitchcock creates by overtly displaying stereotypes and social generalizations. These generalizations transfer negative thoughts in the perception of Christian morality, and even the audience becomes engrossed in these thoughts, as Hitchcock shrewdly weaves the script, cast, mise-en-scene, and camera work into one potent concoction where no one will be untouched. Despite being a small film, I Confess displays Hitchcock's cinematic genius and leaves the audience with a compelling story to ponder for some time.
Directorial Magnificence
Others have told the story of the plot and its contrivances and of Montgomery Clift's peculiarities. All good and true. But for my money its Hitch's direction that carries the day here. In fact, I'll go further than that. This may be Hitchcock's best directed film (possibly exceeded only by "Psycho") in terms of pure visual narration. Is it the nimbleness afforded by whatever black-and-white cameras were used? I don't know. But the fluidity and grace of his cuts, the rich rhythm of the shots used (varying beautifully among close/medium/distant) and some powerful individual framing spell directorial magnificence. See for yourself. The next time you watch this, pay close attention to what this man is doing and marvel at his mastery of cinematic grammar. (And lament that so few modern-day "directors" have a clue about grammar.) "Supreme technician" indeed.
Alfred Hitchcock was fond of telling the story about how his father discouraged his son from even the slightest criminal impulse by having young Alfred locked in a police holding cell for a brief period--a terrifying experience Hitchcock never forgot. Much of the fear from that childhood incident resonates through The Wrong Man, which is unique among Hitchcock's films in that it is based entirely on a factual case that occurred in New York City in January 1953. As Hitchcock states in a shadowy prologue, authenticity was his primary goal--including the use of actual names and locations from the case--and the film gains considerable power from Hitchcock's semi-documentary approach (a film noir style that was still in vogue when Hitchcock shot this film in 1957).
I love all of Hitchcock's movies, so it's hard to pick a favorite, but this one would be near the top. The plot is full of suspense and humor, the actors are perfect in their respective parts, especially Marlene Dietrich and Jane Wyman. Any movie where Marlene sings is a must-see anyway, much less in a Hitchcock movie! Lots of comic bits sprinkled throughout the movie offset the suspense and deadly points perfectly. When I first saw the movie years ago, I was completely fooled right up to the point with Wyman and Richard Todd hiding beneath the stage. But I still watch the movie about once a year and thoroughly enjoy it every time. A must for any Hitchcock fan who may have never seen this true gem. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jane Wyman - Marlene Dietrich - Richard Todd Director(s): Alfred Hitchcock DVD Release Date: Released the 07 September 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The first of Alfred Hitchcock's World War II features, Foreign Correspondent was completed in 1940, as the European war was only beginning to erupt across national borders. Its titular hero, Johnny Jones (Joel McCrea), is an American crime reporter dispatched by his New York publisher to put a fresh spin on the drowsy dispatches emanating from overseas, his nose for a good story (and, of course, some fortuitous timing) promptly leading him to the "crime" of fascism and Nazi Germany's designs on European conquest.
In attempting to learn more about a seemingly noble peace effort, Jones (who's been saddled with the dubious nom du plume Hadley Haverstock) walks into the middle of an assassination, uncovers a spy ring, and, not entirely coincidentally, falls in love--a pattern... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Joel McCrea - Laraine Day Director(s): Alfred Hitchcock DVD Release Date: Released the 07 September 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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A suave tennis player (Ray Milland) plots the perfect murder, the dispatching of his wealthy wife (Grace Kelly), who is having an affair with a writer (Robert Cummings). Amazingly, the wife manages to stave off her attacker, a twist of fate that challenges the hubby's talent for improvisation. Alfred Hitchcock wisely stuck to the stage origins of Dial M for Murder, ignoring the temptation to "open up" the material from the home of the unhappy couple. The result may not be one of Hitchcock's deepest films, but it's a thoroughly engaging chamber movie. It also features Grace Kelly at her loveliest, the same year she made Rear Window with Hitchcock. Dial M for Murder was filmed in the briefly trendy 3-D process, and Hitchcock shot some scenes to bring out the depth of... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Ray Milland - Grace Kelly Director(s): Alfred Hitchcock DVD Release Date: Released the 07 September 2004 Usually ships in 6 to 7 days
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Repeated viewings can't dispel the shock of the final scene in this classic 1941 romantic mystery--a brief but disorienting confrontation that suddenly inverts the heroine's mounting conviction that she's married a murderer, forcing us to reconsider virtually every scene and line of dialogue that's preceded it. It's a masterful coup de grace for director Alfred Hitchcock, who has built a puzzle around the corrosive power of suspicion, threaded with deft ambiguities that toy with dramatic conventions and character archetypes in nearly every frame.
As embodied by Joan Fontaine, who nabbed an Oscar in this second outing with the director, Lina McLaidlaw is a buttoned-up, bookish heiress whose prim exterior conceals longings for a more engaged emotional life. Her solution materializes in... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Joan Fontaine - Cary Grant Director(s): Alfred Hitchcock DVD Release Date: Released the 07 September 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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