I Confess Reviews

Since I'm a huge fan of Alfred Hitchcock, I was really eager to check this flick. Basically, it is one of his most obscure movies and, to be honest, it was indeed not one of his best flicks but I still enjoyed it anyway. It was a rather interesting story about the priest and the issues involved in the confidentiality of the confession. It was some pretty good material and in the hands of the great thriller master, it could have been pretty great. Unfortunately, they threw in a romantic angle for which I didn't care much. Later on, it was pretty obvious that the whole romance thing was there to question the morality of the priest during the subsequent trial but it didn't really work for me. The ending was also pretty rushed and not really satisfying. Still, the directing by Hitchcock was really efficient, just as usual and I was really impressed by Montgomery Clift. Clift was like James Dean or Marlon Brando, an incredibly good-looking fellow who happened to be a terrific actor. Unfortunately, he also had a massive substance abuse issue which was described as the longest suicide in show-business history. Apparently, Montgomery Clift was constantly drunk during filming which didn't show at all when watching this flick which is a tribute to his acting talent or to the talent of this great director. Anyway, even though it is not one of Hitchcock's great classics, it is still a pretty good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Alfred Hitchcock's work.

Excellent film with Montgomery Clift giving a very good performance as a priest in Québec who, due to his religion, cannot tell anybody about the murder he hears about during a confession. The standout scene involves the priests' lover, Anne Baxter, recollecting the moments they spent together during and after the second world war. The use of locations in this film are particularly stunning up until the tense climax.
Great film.

4/5