I think I Confess is Hitch's most underrated film, even more underrated than Rope and a brilliant viewing experience. Montgommery Clift is a brilliant actor and i think this film deserves more recognition. Did anyone else really like this film?
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Thank you. These two films: Rope and I Confess are possibly his best!
P.S. I Confess is coming to DVD!!!! Here's the site
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002HOEQM/qid=1088373129/sr=1-7/ref=sr_1_7/104-3730025-3073550?v=glance&s=dvd
I agree!!!! Just watched it...would you believe that I recognised my great uncle(a priest in Quebec City)as an extra!!!! Wonders never cease. Now I can say that I had a family member in a movie from my favorite Director! :D
Pierrette
That is soo cool! You lucky bastard...
shareThat is awesome.
shareI wish I could agree with you all. I just think this film is very flat, and one of the few Hitchcock movies I dislike. It moves way too slow, and I must agree with Hitchcock, it was a mistake to make a movie around the premise that a priest cannot reveal what has been confessed to him. I do not doubt that this is true, but the casual viewer will not notice this. More than anything though, it just doesn't seem likely. I'm not normally caught up with a film seeming overly realistic, but the coincidences in the film are just too much.
Overall, I clearly see why Hitchcock himself did not care for this film and even said it shouldn't have been made.
I'm not the Hitchcock expert (yet hehe) but from the movies I have seen, and I have yet to see Rope, I would have to say spellbound is awfully underrated.
But, this is just my opinion =)
yes it is true in the Catholic religion that a priest cannot repeat what has been confessed to him,yes,even murder.
I think Monty Clift was excellent in the film(what wasn't he awesome in).
some people find the film a bit too dark and serious(none of Hitch's humor to lighten things up)but it is still compelling nonetheless.
as far as this being Hitchcock's greatest....I don't think so.while it is a really good film,it's not his best.look at Notorious,Vertigo,o r Stranger on a Train for that honor.
i totally agree. This movie is highly underrated.
shareAmen. This is one of Hitchcock's most underrated films.
share*spoilers within*
I agree, "I confess" is underrated and a great film.
I am in the process of working my way thru all of hitch's movies. I try not to compare or expect things from film to film. Obviously "I Confess" doesnt have the scope or action of a "North by Northwest" but thats not a bad thing. It weaves a great buidling story with some creative twists. My favorite is when the exgirlfriend pours her heart out to the police to help save the priest and it ends up being the prosecutions missing motive - great stuff.
It moves way too slowI know this is "just" your opinion but the film moves slowly? Really? It's barely ninety minutes long and plot-wise, there is so much happening that the characters rarely get time to breathe!
Oh, I love this film! I'm surprised that I haven't heard more about it! :D
shareThis is my list of Hitch's most underrated (notice, I Confess is 3rd). There are many threads on this topic including one on Hitchcock's own page which I suggest you check out.
1. Marnie - never seen a movie like this before. Same goes for...
2. Rope - Not just an experiment, another masterpeice.
3. I Confess - Its use of B/W photography and symbolic imagery is incredible.
4. Suspicion - Cary Grant is great and keeps you guessing until the very end.
5. Torn Curtain - After that incredible and suspensful murder I was hooked.
6. Stage Fright - Too bad it was overshadowed by Strangers on a Train the following year.
7. Foreign Correspondent - Can't forget its fantastic and memorable set peices.
-Open the pod bay doors Hal!
-This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.
I've seen #'s 2-4 -- got to look up the others now! :D
shareSoto, you and I are on the same wavelength. Only my top three would go this way:
Rope
Marnie
I Confess
Brilliant and underrated, all.
Here here! I watched this movie in high school and I remember sitting on the edge of my seat. Great acting, story, everything. A must see.
"You bet! Hit me on the slant!"share
I thought it was great. Hitchcock uses the situation's tension exquisitely. A priest under suspicion could free himself at any time. However, to do so, he'd be breaking a sacred vow. Save the body to damn the soul?
Note Hitchcock's fine use of Christ images, especially around the "time of trial". It's interesting to note that Christ also could have removed himself from danger at any time, yet chose to die serving God's will instead.
I think, perhaps, this is a movie that is not easily understood in cultures that are about self-gain more than any sacrifice.
"It's interesting to note that Christ also could have removed himself from danger at any time, yet chose to die serving God's will instead."
Compliments. This is a brilliant statement which I had never thought of before reading your post. Kudos. Very good analogy.
I agree that this film, Rope and Spellbound are his most underrated films. I must, however, mention that Rope is the most underrated film of Hitchcock and could never understand why it didn't get the credit it deservered. I Confess is a close second.
shareOne of the common criticisms of Hitchcock films is they lack character development. According to his biographers, Hitchcock would throw out several pages from the beginnings of scripts written for him that he considered to be unnecessary character development. Which is why the inner turmoil that Montgomery Clift portrays without needing to say a word goes so far to fill the character development void in this Hitchcock film, in my opinion.
There is a book translated from French entitled "Hitchcock: The First 44 Films" by Eric Rohmer and Claude Chabrol which gives "I Confess" its well-deserved respect.
That's well put about the Christ imagery. I noticed and liked it as well.
I liked the film pretty well, but . . . is it just me, or does Montgomery Clift have the exact same facial expression throughout the entire film? It certainly seemed that way. I know he's always called a great actor, and I've seen him give what looked like some good performances in the bits and pieces of his other films that I've seen. I wonder what the deal was here?
A brilliant observation, Jarnor23, one that had not occurred to me, and I have seen this very good Hitchcock film several times.
Oh, and for all of you who have named "Marnie" one of Hitchcock's most underrated, I couldn't agree more. In fact, I might put it down as his most underrated movie. For those of you who haven't seen it, get it in Letterbox and allow yourself to sink into it. Tippi Hedren is brilliant. And I loved the stylized depiction of the white-stepped rowhouses of Baltimore.
I agree. It's a totally amazing use of a lose-lose choice -- either you save your own life but condemn yourself to guilt and a tarnished soul, or you save your soul but are unjustly punished for a crime you never committed, possibly with death.
"I think, perhaps, this is a movie that is not easily understood in cultures that are about self-gain more than any sacrifice."
Or where being part of a religion involves actively following its tenets. There's no point in belonging to a religion even in name unless you do so, but there are lots of people who seem to think that if you hold any concrete beliefs and actually follow them, you're some kind of zealot wacko who will start waving holy texts at them any second.
i totally agree 100 percent. This is such a brilliant artistic masterpiece for hitchcock which really captures the question of what would you do if you were in that kind of situation. I beleive that everyone is religious that it would be hard for any preist to honor their religious values or to stick their neck out for themselves by going against their rules of their religion. The cinemotography creates such a brooding and intense atmosphere and the symbolism is terrific. I also beleive that Mountgomery Clift is a terrific actor that doesn't play the same role all the time like many actors did back then. Rope too is a very underated film that carries a brilliant message and is a true mark of the genious Hithcock was.
shareI love it. I was surprised, after seeing it twice and still loving it the second time, to read that it gets bashed so much. Baxter overacts, Clift underacts...make up your mind. Attraction between unlike characters is interesting to me and happens a lot in real life. Hitchcock's merciless satire of the priests is the only thing that I thought got a bit heavy handed, and maybe Baxter would have been more convincing as an ash blonde. But it's a very engaging film. Did any creative artist produce ONLY masterpieces? Brahms, maybe. Good Hitchcock beats the hell out of most directors' best.
I agree with the praise of Marnie too.