Absolvição

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.

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!

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.

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

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.