Yes, thank you, Criterion, for putting up your films on a YouTube channel. I've always thought I'd love to see more of these legally available, even for a small fee (a $2.99 rental is very reasonable). I've had the chance to see Breathless (1960), Le samouraï (1967) and Lady Snowblood (1973) in the last three days. The Confession (1970) is my latest watch.
The Confession is a political thriller and drama concerning Stalinism in Czechoslovakia. One imagines it would be difficult to get this film made in what was still a Communist country, so The Confession is a French film about a French-speaking Czechoslovakia. The story follows an undersecretary who is targeted for arrest and trial for treason, accused of Trotskyism and Titoism. Usually when I think of the purges, I think of Russia, so it is interesting to see it at work elsewhere in the Soviet Empire.
The beginning especially works as a political thriller, with several of the Communist officials displaying what in many other circumstances would look like neurotic paranoia. When the two cars chase down our hero, it's a frightening moment. Much of what follows concerns the interrogation. We see the differences between Stalinism and Nazism blurred as Jews are expelled from the party and targeted. The audience can understand how reducing a man from undersecretary to a number can be demeaning, and can see how the repetitive nature of the interrogation can break a man down. This isn't entirely an easy film to watch, but it gets its message across in a style blending realism with small artistic touches. If more people can see this film, that can only be good.
The Confession is a political thriller and drama concerning Stalinism in Czechoslovakia. One imagines it would be difficult to get this film made in what was still a Communist country, so The Confession is a French film about a French-speaking Czechoslovakia. The story follows an undersecretary who is targeted for arrest and trial for treason, accused of Trotskyism and Titoism. Usually when I think of the purges, I think of Russia, so it is interesting to see it at work elsewhere in the Soviet Empire.
The beginning especially works as a political thriller, with several of the Communist officials displaying what in many other circumstances would look like neurotic paranoia. When the two cars chase down our hero, it's a frightening moment. Much of what follows concerns the interrogation. We see the differences between Stalinism and Nazism blurred as Jews are expelled from the party and targeted. The audience can understand how reducing a man from undersecretary to a number can be demeaning, and can see how the repetitive nature of the interrogation can break a man down. This isn't entirely an easy film to watch, but it gets its message across in a style blending realism with small artistic touches. If more people can see this film, that can only be good.