L'assoluzione

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.

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.

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

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

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.