Review of The Offence (1973) by Stephen C — 17 Apr 2011

There are two things that will make or break this film for you. The first is in my opinion the greatest performance Sean Connery has ever given, which constantly risks veering too far into melodrama, but is delivered with such steely-eyed conviction that the result demands respect.

Also, there's the film's structure, flashing back and forth through time surrounding a crucial central event, as well as employing some subjective editing effects that can be alienating at first.

This film would have worked perfectly well as a straightforward narrative told in a linear way, but I think the continuous re-framing of perspective and assumptions makes all the difference in this story of a man who has literally been broken by his job.

Besides the artful flourishes, the cinematography is simply impeccable. Almost the entire film consists of people talking in featureless rooms, and if you need to make a scene like that work, all you have to do is call Sidney Lumet.

His camera seamlessly and invisibly communicates shifts in dominance, changes in emotion, no effort is spared to put the camera exactly where it's needed. This film was a favour to Connery, and with good reason, because it was a risk.

They don't make movies like this every day. It's far easier to take a character like this, who clearly has some basis in reality, and either flatly and simplistically condemn him, or completely dehumanize him by turning him into an emotionless badass with a .

45 magnum. The reward for all that risk is a big, fat slab of drama that does well by everyone in it.