The Confession

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Nicolas M A well acted and compelling lens on the Stalinist show trials, but it fails morally by disconnecting the trials from the barbaric history of global communism. That is a remarkable failing given the events in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany (among others) decades after Stalin's death and not unknown to the director and cast. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 12/07/23 Full Review Audience Member The split between Tito and Stalin (1948), in the late 1940s and early 1950s, was followed by show trials of prominent Communists all over Eastern Europe and the wave of Stalinist purges in which tens of thousands suffered or lost their lives. This movie is about the 1952 process in Prague, conducted against Rudolf Slánský and 13 other leading members of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ). The main protagonist - Anton Ludvik, aka Gerard, is based on Arthur London, veteran of the Spanish Civil War and the French resistance movement, who, at the time of the arrest, was vice-minister of Foreign Affairs of Czechoslovakia and a senior official of KSČ. Display of Stalinist torture and interrogation process in preparation for rigged political trial is very realistic. Based on actual events. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review andres s A very tough subject material to watch but a very important one at that. Seeing how conniving and evil parties can be just to get the information they want to hear out of someone, even if it isn't true, is a very frustrating but interesting thing to watch. And what's even more noteworthy, is that this really happens is still happening. Torture tactics and secret confession trials. The only problem I have is tat the movie could have been reasonably shorter. It felt like the confessions and the talking went on and on with no end. And being that this is a Costa-Gavras film, he probably did it intentionally to make the viewer uneasy. Well, it worked. Overall, very powerful political movie about construing the truth through confessions. Remarkable and pretty important film. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member A set of counter-truth emerged from their historical contexts. Not a word about McChartism that raged in the United States at the same time. Costa Gavras, convincing when he denounces fascism and racism, deceives in a doubtful film of American propaganda. Pity. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member The Confession is an exquisitely crafted dissection of political disintegration and anti-Semitism, using brilliant Gavras-style editing, a great Yves Montana and Simone Sigornet, and dark, murky sets to their fullest emotional potential and ultimately unsettle, thrill, and frustrate the audience. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member The master of the 1970s political thriller, director Costa-Gravis, followed up Z with this film. Set during the Soviet-orchestrated show trials in Prague Czechoslovakia in 1952 but with the shadow of the recent (1968) crushing of the Prague Spring by Soviet tanks, Costa-Gravas criticizes the imperial machinations of Soviet Russia and the immense human cost of empire-building. Yves Montand, Costa-Gravas' favorite leading man, plays a minister in Czechoslovakia's postwar Communist government, a man who fought against Franco in the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War and against the Nazis aiding the French Resistance in World War II. He is arrested, tortured, has his spirit broken and is accused of being a Troskyist, Titoist, Anarchist, and ultimately an agent of the United States undermining socialism in Czechoslovakia. He and others who served in the International Brigades are suspect by the Soviet "advisers," sent in to purge Czechoslovakia of reactionary elements. Montand plays a more sympathetic character here than the American CIA operative he plays in Costa-Gravas's State of Siege. Simone Signoret plays his wife. The film is suspenseful and well-photographed with postwar Czechoslovakia recreated in early 1970s France. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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