Monty gets a raw deal (with thanks to R.E.M.)
As has been mentioned already by other "posters" "I Confess" remains a
largely neglected work in Hitchcock's oeuvre. Filmed in 1953 before the explosion of colour movies Hitch commenced from 1954 - 1959 "Rear Window" - to "North by North-West" (bar "The Wrong Man" which shrewdly and aptly used B & W to authenticate its documentary approach), it can seem stolid and dated. The religious symbolism is perhaps overplayed at times and one has to suspend belief at the massive coincidences which Hitch asks us to swallow (Keller kills Villette at exactly the time that Clift and Baxter's characters want him out of the way to stop his blackmailing) but there are some typical flourishes by the Master - particularly Baxter's slow motion descent to meet Clift in her flashback recollection and the half face close up of Karl Malden, here patrolling the Streets of Quebec as an inquisitive police detective, as he catches sight of Clift and Baxter meeting outside the murder scene. I also enjoyed the scene where Keller shoots his wife in the crowd outside the courtroom where Clift has just been acquitted - it was reminiscent of a similar scene in "Foreign Correspondent". The film moves slowly at times and does show its theatrical origins (like "Dial M for Murder" soon afterwards) but there's a good murder mystery here all the same and it reaches a satisfactory conclusion. The playing by the leads is uniformly good - occasionally you can see Clift acting as he over emotes his dilemma (Hitchcock was never comfortable with the Actors' Studio "Method-acting" of which Clift, and Malden come to that, were exponents), but he is believable in an unbelievable part (just what turned him to the church anyway?). Anne Baxter looks lovely throughout and acts her part with sympathy and a degree of realism in what is a stylised production. The location shots of Quebec are a treat too. I actually think the film would benefit from colourisation, presuming that the B & W filming at the time was for cost reasons. Not quite a neglected gem then but an engrossing and rewarding watch nonetheless.. 
An underrated Hitchcock masterpiece that shouldn't be ignored
By the time Alfred Hitchcock shot this movie, he already had a really
strong career, with lots of great and excellent films, but it was after this one that he made his best-known masterpieces that became all-time classics, with the exception of 'Rebecca' and 'Strangers On a Train', that came before. This movie begins with lots of shots of Quebec, the town where it's set. Then it shows a dead man inside a house. Right after it, we see another man going into a church and confessing the murder to a priest. But the plot really begins when the priest is considered the prime suspect of the murder, and he can't tell the police who did it because of the church's principles. The plot itself is already very interesting, ans it's so well-written that doesn't make the viewer bored at all, with great character development and a few clever twists, it's but Alfred Hitchcock's directing makes it even more interesting, with some clever shots at interesting angles, and a film-noir style to it. Montgomery Clift stars here as the priest. Even though he is, in my opinion, a too good-looking priest, and that feels weird, if you can get past that, you can see how powerful is his acting here. Karl Maden also gives a nice acting as the police inspector, but it's Anne Baxter that isn't good. Although her character is important to the story, she feels weird and out of place. This movie also suffers from the same problem as many movies of its time: because of the Hayes Code, they were forced to chance the movie's ending from the one featured on the original play in which the movie was based on. If it had stick to the original ending, it would be much better. The other problem I have with this picture is the two major flaws that bothered me. I'm not gonna spoil it here, but anyone can see it, and one of the then is the ending itself. Overral, this is a nice directed Hitchcock film, with a clever plot, but with a weird ending. It also features nice interpretations by Karl Maden and Montgomery Clift, but Anne Baxter screws it. In my opinion, it is much better than Hitchcock's so-called better 'Strangers On a Train'. I wouldn't put it on a list of my favorite movies of the master, but it's far from the worst ones. 7/10. |
Trailers: |
