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It's a gripping thriller, and Richard Burton is utterly convincing in the kind of role he was born to play (a rigid priest/teacher, but with traces of humanity underneath). But the constant flow of twists results in constant shifts in the characterizations, until the whole thing becomes too far-fetched for its own good. Nonetheless, it certainly didn't deserve its gross mistreatment by the American distributors, who released it ten years after it was made. (**1/2)

Coincidentally, this is the second thriller I see in the span of a week that deals with the Catholic seal of confession as a main theme. The other one was the almighty Alfred Hitchcock's "I Confess", which is obviously a totally different kind of film (*), but nevertheless very fascinating to see how the concept of the supposedly holy and inviolable privacy of confession forms the inspiration for intense, grim and robust thrillers. And, mind you, then I haven't even mentioned Pete Walker's raunchy "The Confessional Murders" (a.k.a. "House of Mortal Sin") yet!

"Absolution" is a very compelling and original thriller, albeit admittedly one that too patiently takes its time to unfold. This shouldn't come too much as a surprise, since the scriptwriter is none other than Anthony Shaffer. He made himself immortal with screenplays like "Sleuth" and especially "The Wicker Man", and they are definitely also slow-brooding and unsettling stories with a heavy focus on character development. Richard Burton is truly great as the humorless Father Goddard; teacher/head priest in a strict Catholic boarding school for boys. When his prime pupil, of whom Goddard was certain he'd become an exemplary priest, suddenly develops a rebellious streak because he befriends a free-spirited drifter (Billy Connolly), things quickly escalate. The student, Benjamin, plays a vicious prank on Father Goddard and desecrates the holy confession, but things even get worse when people turn up murdered and fellow students missing. Also typical for an Anthony Shaffer screenplay is that nothing is what it seems, and the finale keeps some extreme violence and couple of surprise twists in store. I also would have preferred "Absolution" to kickstart a bit sooner, so that the first 40-45 minutes weren't so difficult to struggle through, but the second half is really good. Apart from Burton, there are great performances from the young actors Dominique Guard and David Bradley, and the climax is downright fantastic. Slightly predictable, maybe, but definitely satisfying for fans of grim horror and downbeat endings.

(*) I state there isn't a direct connection between Hitchcock's "I Confess" and "Absolution", but that isn't entirely true. One of the first screenplays the great Anthony Shaffer wrote was for "Frenzy"; - and that became the nastiest serial killer thriller to ever be directed by Hitchcock. Also, one year after "Absolution, director Anthony Page took on "The Lady Vanishes" as his next project, and that was a remake of a fantastic 1938 thriller; - directed by ... Alfred Hitchcock.

The beginning is slightly boring but as you get into the film it twists and turns many times giving a great ending. Burton being one of the best actors of all time, gave a brilliant performance. From the tag line and the description of the film, I didn't think it was going to be a good as it was. The ending was unexpected, so i believe it to be very well written, very well cast and very well directed. This is a must for any Burton fan. I give it a rating of 3 out of 5

"Absolution" is a film that has somehow faded into the public domain. So, if you are interested in seeing it, you can download it for free from archive.org. Often IMDb links to this site but in this case, oddly, it has not.

The film is set at a Catholic boarding school. An incredibly humorless priest, Father Goddard (Richard Burton) teaches Latin at the school and in most of his dealings with the students, he's a nasty and cold man. He's so cold that he naturally breeds contempt in some of his students. And, this coldness and inflexibility will eventually be his undoing.

In the course of his work, Father Goddard has also managed to alienate a stranger--a drifter and a bit of a rogue (Billy Connelly). Instead of showing the love of God, Goddard is cold and dismissive of the man. However, because he does treat this man so poorly as well as students, one of the boys finds a kindred spirit in this drifter. They become friends and the boy starts sneaking out at night to spend time with the guy. Where does all this lead? Well, certainly NOT where you'd expect it to go!!! The film turns out to be a dandy suspense film--and one that kept me guessing many times. It's very interesting and worth seeing though I have one reservation. While the teens playing the students were pretty good actors, occasionally Burton seemed to overact. I know, he's well respected by many, but here he did seem to overdo it just a bit.

By the way, another part that didn't come off well was the violent scene involving a shovel to the head. However, I would say that although it looked fake, I am happy it wasn't more graphic!

Richard Burton plays a priest in Absolution. I know, his real-life persona was very un-priest-like, but that's why it's called acting! I mean, Frank Sinatra played a very convincing priest in The Miracle of the Bells, and he was just as un-saintly as Richard Burton in real life. Anyway, Burton gives a great performance as a man of the cloth. He's conflicted and pained, and when he even hears about a sin, you can see him struggling not to take it as a personal insult.

He's a teacher and mentor in a boys' Catholic school, and during one of his lessons, the boys ask about the rules during confession. If someone confesses to a crime, will the priest turn him into the police? Burton answers, almost directly into the camera for the audience's benefit, that the priest is bound to silence and can't call the police if he's told of a crime. Then, surprise! One of his students confesses a murder.

Granted, if this movie had been made today, it would be a lot more gruesome, and probably have a few more twists and turns. But it was made in 1978, and so if you watch it, keep that in mind. There are a couple of violent scenes, but nothing overly graphic. And I thought it was thrilling, with enough twists and turns to keep me on the edge of my seat. It's a lot of fun to watch a manipulative, snot-nosed student take Burton to the brink of insanity!

I wonder what it must have been like for Dominic Guard to play this really pretty manipulative role opposite Richard Burton. Whatever nerves or awe he may have felt is very well disguised, though, as he turns in a super performance as the young student "Benjie". His teacher - "Fr. Goddard" (Burton) is a man of profound faith and little tolerance of, or interest in, his students. The former alights on a plan to torment the latter by making a false confession - safe in the knowledge that this confession must be taken to the grave. The priest believes, investigates and discovers it is a practical joke. Soon, though, he is being subjected, regularly, to more equally heinous confessions and after discovering that there is truth to one of them, he slowly he begins to lose the plot. The pace builds well, the performances from the two and from David Bradley's slightly OCD "Arthur" giving us quite a sense of tension, and the last few scenes offer us a pretty brutal and unexpected series of twists. Burton is immersed in the role, and though maybe a little hammy towards the end manages to work well with the two younger actors to create quite a tense drama. The narrative also opens up to scrutiny the concept of "blind faith" - however well intentioned, and encourages thoughts on the pros and cons of any form of religion-based eduction.

Angry looking, twitchy Richard Burton stars as a priest at an all boys school. He's all for slapping down the disabled, annoying pupil while praising the sycophantic, sneaky pupil (I've forgotten their names already). Meanwhile, Billy Connolly of all people turns up as a drifter and after being told to bolt by Burton, sets up camp on the school grounds and begins to turn the sneaky pupil's head onto drink and drugs and living free.

Vexed by Connolly's free spirit and nimble banjo plucking, Burton sets out to get rid of the Glaswegian hippy and get his pupil to return where every adolescent boy belongs: in a school run by Catholic priests. Brian Glover appears as a policeman that gives out a good old seventies police kicking for good measure. However, the tables turn as the young pupil confesses that he's murdered somebody, but is he telling the truth or is it just all mind games to drive old rummy Burton out of his mind?

This film is deadly, deadly slow, but quite on purpose. It's yet another one of these seventies movies where the plot zigs and zags and somehow retains a dark atmosphere that modern films somehow can't quite emulate. There's very little by way of action, but one burst of violence took me by surprise in it's brutality (a nasty axe to the face scene). Burton looks genuinely annoyed at everything, and as this was Billy Connolly back when he was funny, he's enjoyable too. This is not a film for insomniacs but good for those with a bit of patience.

I got this film in the 50-pack Drive-in Collection. I had forgotten all about this movie.. I popped it in and about 1/3 of the way into the film I remembered seeing this one a few years ago. WOW what a pleasant blast from the past. So glad they included this forgotten gem in the collection!

Yes this film is good - it's my kind of a mystery-thriller. Although the film is not a horror film, it does get creepy - very creepy. Fans of classic horror movies should enjoy this film along with fans of mystery thrillers. Just an excellent film!

The film does start slow... but it is worth it in the end. There is a reason for this seemingly slow start - it will make sense in the end.

Great late night flick. One that you will not want to miss anything so have your drink and food ready!

9.5/10

A film that has left an indelible mark on me in the two weeks I have mulled over a review!

Why? I disagree with so many other reviewers in their assessments in a way much more than the hundreds of other films I have reviewed.

The good. I like Richard Burton's performance as Father Goddard. The strict Catholic house master at a Roman Catholic boarding school who runs his house with an iron fist or the equivalent in religious terms!

Okay Burton is towards the end of his career but his sheer presence and masterful verbal diction are perfect for the role. He is not over the top in any way. He is psychologically bullied by a rebellious pupil in cahoots with another pupil better known for his role in Kes (1969) played by Dai/David Bradley who is an older version of his Casper role in the aforementioned Kes!

The title of the film, Absolution comes from the seal of Absolution that a Catholic Priest must honour from private Confessions. That lesson given by Father Goddard will come back to haunt him.

In the last decade of his life Richard Burton was doing just about anything put in front of him for money. He felt, probably rightly so, that he had nothing to prove as an actor. So why not build up a nest egg, especially with all the heavy duty alimony he was laying out. It's the only reason I could think of he did Absolution.

Burton plays a priest at a British Catholic school where he's got some really sadistic kids on his hands. After a class in which he carefully explains the religious implications of the confessional and the restrictions it places upon a priest hearing confession, Father Burton hears some confessions that positively drive him to the brink and he singles out one youth as responsible for it all. Drives Father Dick quite bonkers.

It's pretty bad, it's the sort of stuff that the producers of American slasher films would do with a little more gore. It didn't enhance Burton's reputation and I wouldn't waste my time.

Yes, I guess the movie is hard to sit through till the end but as I was watching it all by myself minus distractions I think the movie is good. Richard Burton's acting can be coolly incandescent (Huh? Cool but incandescent? Yes, that is really what I meant) although he leaned towards theatrical dialog and body acting especially towards the few minutes of the film, otherwise, I liked the movie for its storytelling. Perhaps you may really find it boring if your idea of a movie is three-million polygons of hair and fur rendered with subsurface scattering algorithms. Ack!

But I really love the claustrophobic feeling of an all-boys catholic school the movie is trying to capture. I can relate to the interminably boring sessions of sitting thru your Latin textbook translations (Spanish in our case) and endless hours of conjugating all those verbs (AMOS, AMAS, AMAMOS, AMAIS). But what really bothers me is the parochial drift of the plot. It is so narrow that at the end you get the feeling that you are watching a made-for-TV movie. But, hey, this is Richard Burton. They could have given the movie a little more room to breathe. I think they have overdone this claustrophobic statement a bit too far in this movie. But, overall, this is tolerable and better than most movies out there.

It is a decent thriller suspense but its a mess and all over the place. Great acting by Burton though and have Bill Connolly being himself in it

Richard Burton in one of his latter days best parts : he'd already been a member of the clergy:the archbishop in Peter Glenville's "Becket" from Anouilh ,and the defrocked priest in Huston's "night of the iguana" ,from T. Williams ; but none of these characters were as fundamentalist as this one who takes us back to pre-Vatican II days , when latin was compulsory for the mass,and when confession was de rigueur for everyone brought up a Catholic (The first time I've been through this, I was scared to death)

Father God-ard 's God is ,by his voice,as intractable and as demanding as the petulant Jehovah of Victorian Sunday schools .Old Testament indeed : this priest talking to Arthur about what the ancient did with the crippled gives you gooseflesh (it recalls the Nazis).

Combining an outdated vision of catholic religion with thriller , Anthony Shaffer 's play is as smart ,as exciting and as suspenseful as "sleuth" (Mankiewicz's last film) ,full of unexpected twists :the last scene in the church when the priest believes a ghost is coming to claim his damned soul ,verges on supernatural .

In this enclosed world,where you're not even allowed to intervene during father Goddard's class ,even when your remarks are relevant , there's a strong longing for liberty ,here represented by neo-hippie Blakey ;this underdog is a living threat for the establishment ; it begins as a practical joke , teacher's pet 's rebellion against a confession he does not believe in anymore and it ends up as a tragedy not devoid of humor -don't leave during the final cast ,you'd miss the boy's subtle last joke -. All that the priest stands for backfires against him .

Both Dominic Guard and David Bradley give excellent performances opposite a monstre sacré .Both play tricks on their spiritual adviser, and on the viewer too.

The book was a bit sweetened; no more hint at a gay relationship between Blackie and Benji. On the other hand , the ending of the film is much more cynical .

A strict schoolmaster at a Catholic boarding school in England named Goddard (Richard Burton) favors one student, Benjie Stanfield (Dominic Guard), but seems to loathe his awkward misfit 'friend,' Arthur Dyson (Dai Bradley). Meanwhile Benjie befriends a vagrant hippie (Billy Connolly), a relationship of which Goddard disapproves. Havoc ensues.

"Absolution" (1978) is a psychological drama/mystery with some thrills in the last act scripted by the screenwriter of "The Wicker Man" (1973). It's the inverse of "Picnic at Hanging Rock" (1975), just with an unambiguous climax. (Dominic Guard, incidentally, appeared in that film as well). The setting naturally brings to mind "Dead Poets Society" (1989), but "Absolution" lacks its inspirational heart and addresses darker ideas.

Speaking of which, the underlying psychological and spiritual themes are fascinating, which makes the film conducive to repeat viewings. At first glance, it juxtaposes the potential confines of religion with the seeming liberties of bohemianism and Benjie is stuck in between. But there's more, way more. Like the fact that carnal hatred engenders wrath, not to mention glaring favoritism. Likewise, a rigid spirit of legalism naturally spawns rebellion. Then there's the tidbit about how a dubious religious rule can backfire on the faithful.

Sharon Duce (Louella) plays the sole female character of any note, but she only appears in one sequence (she would incidentally marry Dominic Guard and have two kids with him). As such, this is a decidedly male-oriented story, which is a shortcoming of the movie, for me at least.

Also, the convoluted details revealed in the last act could've been better elucidated. Actually, this subplot of the story needed tweaked because certain bits seem quite implausible (unless I missed something). In any case, the end needed a little more... finesse.

The film runs 1 hour, 35 minutes, and was shot at Ellesmere College, near Ellesmere, England, which is about a 2-hour drive northwest of London (many of the students of Ellesmere appeared in this movie as extras). Interiors of the school and (I presume) the forest scenes were shot at Pinewood Studios, which is just west of London.

GRADE: B-

When I saw this movie in a shop close to my place a couple of weeks ago, I must admit that I never heard anything about it. But I was intrigued by the beautiful artcover and the subject leading to believe this one may be quiet a lot more than just an average thriller.

But at first, I was also somehow a bit suspicious what about the whole thing may be: is it a just a Drame, a Thriller, a Horror Movie, or does it even contain some supernatural elements?

After watching Absolution, and definetly without spoiling anything at all, I must confess (lol...) that this gem is quiet a bit all of these flavours in a row. And yet, is it really?

The movie isn't fast paced and it can't be: Gosh folks, read the subject (yeah, and even the year it was made) before arguing it isn't the next F... & Furious movie!!! Of course, there are good reasons for this kind of rythm, ambiance & direction! Ever, by any chance, heard of character development guys?!!

So, if you are looking for a brilliantly written (Anthony Shaffer: Sleuth, Frenzy, The Wicker Man... need I say more?), elegantly shot and perfectly acted thriling ridel, one of the best crafted movies of the seventies, don't look further!

Absolution is perfection on all fronts and even further very modern in his meaning(s), especially nowadays considering all the fuss around scandals about clergymen in all the countries in this world...

Powerful, horrible ... and so human! You won't regret it... and you won't forget it! What a gem!

A Minor British Film with the Pedigree of Anthony Shaffer, Richard Burton, and Billy Connolly.

It got Lost in a Warp, was Ignored, Forgotten, and Suffered in "Public-Domain-Purgatory".

Bottom-Feeder Film-Buffs Discovered it in 1 of those "Mill-Creek" Marathon Cheap-Boxes with 49 Other "Sinners".

Given the Name-Recognition Involved it was an Easy Spot Among the Dregs.

Fans Shouted "Hidden-Gem".

It Also came with "Tags" for Gloomy, Religious Practices, a Dire, Dark, and Dour Screenplay and Presentation,

Many Seekers of the Obscure in Cinema Caused Ripples so Strong that Now the Movie has been 'Resurrected" on Blu-ray.

The Twisty Story, with Obnoxious, Sweaty, Students Rebelling Against Priest-Burton, Starting with Practical-Jokes Leading to Murder is an Intriguing but Slow-Ride.

British "Icon" (Sir) Billy Connolly's Film Debut.

Overall, a Bit Hard to Embrace with the Film's Grating Characters, Dark Meilu, and "Heady" Story.

It can be a Hard-Sell to those Accustomed too a More Gaudy, Gory, 70's Style Religio-Thriller after "Rosemary's Baby" (1968), "The Exorcist" (1973) and the Myriad of Imitators.

By 1978 the Trend had All but Exhausted and this Late Entry in the Sub-Genre was too Soft, too Little, too Late.

However, for Horror, Thriller, and Mystery Fans it's Definitely...

Worth a Watch.

I don't think anyone can really like this movie. It doesn't do things in a different strange way which is good. But the movie is just so boring, and you are waiting for it to be over. The acting really isn't that bad, but you don't care about that when your watching it. I give it a 1 1/2 out of 5.