Apparently, Costa-Gavras waited decades to get this fact-based, conscience-stricken WWII story made. Perhaps he waited too long. The film feels leftover from the ‘60s or ‘70s, less Costa-Gavras then Fred Zinnemann. Which might have been fine . . . with Zinnemann.* But the two filmmakers have diametrically opposed qualities: One, master of the dramatic slow fuse; the other, master of eruption. So the film satisfies neither manner charting the dangerous path of a Jesuit Priest and an SS officer whose early knowledge of Nazi atrocities needs public amplification, approbation & an irrefutable voice. Something they hope to get from Pope Pius XXII, whose Church allows its fear of Soviet Communism to trump feelings about Hitler’s Germany. Relentlessly tasteful in the telling, the film ends up starved of consequence, with the essential moral crisis of an SS officer participating in horrors to act as witness, presented rather than dramatized. And the Costa-Gavras inclination toward sensationalism stymied thru deference. The story remains fascinating, with undoubted heft to it, a handsome production and an excellent cast. (Look for Sebastian Koch soon to star in OTHER PEOPLE’S LIVES/’04.) But you’ll know why it was overlooked.
(NOTE: Another 'Family Friendly' label on a film that's definitely not for the kiddies. But good, complicated issues for Junior High and up.)
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Released in various languages but an all-English affair here. (And with matching English lip movements in spite of being heavily ‘looped.’) But the film would certainly play far better in German & Italian. Normally this stylistic language-swap convention is easy to accept (though less so then 40 years ago), but here, the accompanying loss in verisimilitude really hurts.
DOUBLE-BILL: *Zinnemann’s own WWII film from the ‘70s was JULIA/’77. It has its flaws, but also holds together being ‘all-of-a-piece.’
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