Just saw it in the theatre

I saw a movie theatre screening of I Confess this past weekend, and I liked it very, very much. I happen to be a Catholic and like movies with Catholic undertones; also, I have been to Quebec several times, and enjoyed the movie for that reason. This is one of those films which is so in tune with your sensibilites that you find it hard to believe you didn't know about it before. Some of my favorite parts of the movie: Fr. Logan's exit from the courthouse towards the end reminiscent of a crucifixion scene with a jeering mob and Keller's wife acting as a sort of Mary Magdalen figure in rushing up to aid Fr. Logan. And the overt religious symbolism earlier in the film, as we view Fr. Logan walking in the street from above a church with statuary depicting the crucifixion. I am already familiar with Hitchcock's The Wrong Man, which also has Catholic symbolism (though less overt) and I could really see the similarities between the two movies.

One thing I found telling about I Confess was the way the police reacted to the suggestion that the priest might be a suspect in the murder. The Brian Ahearne character acted as if it was absurd even to suspect the priest of wrongdoing. It certainly shows what a different time we live in now, with scandal and cover-ups by priests and other clergy part of the daily headlines. Back then, it seems that priests were held in esteem and a presumption of innocence was placed on them.

All that said, I do have a few reservations about the film, which I hope will disappear with repeated viewings. Some of the commentary I have read about Montgomery Clift's performance has praised it for a quiet, spiritual strength, while others find it merely monotonous. I must say I fall in this latter camp right now. I didn't see a lot of expressive range in him. One of the faults of the script in my view is that we never see Fr. Logan in prayer; there seems to be a large chunk of his interior life which is hidden from view, so that the character seems inscrutable.

Interesting that the French spoken in the film sounded like European French rather than Canadian French. And I think that the performances of Malden and Ahearne have been underemphasized; they are excellent. Ahearne in particular adds a certain suave urbanity which offsets the austerity of the movie.