The statement
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The statement |
| Original title | The statement |
| Country of production | Canada , UK , France |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2003 |
| length | 120 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Norman Jewison |
| script | Ronald Harwood |
| production | Norman Jewison, Robert Lantos |
| music | Normand Corbeil |
| camera | Kevin Jewison |
| cut |
Andrew S. Eisen Stephen E. Rivkin |
| occupation | |
| |
The Statement (Alternate title: At the end of a flight - The Statement ) is a Canadian-French-British film drama by Norman Jewison from the year 2003 . The main role is played by Michael Caine . Ronald Harwood wrote the script based on the 1995 novel Hetzjagd ( The Statement ) by Brian Moore .
action
Pierre Brossard was part of the militia of the French Vichy regime during World War II . He was involved in the selection and shooting of seven Jews by the militia and the German SS . Brossard was arrested and sentenced to death after the liberation of France, but was able to escape with the help of friends in the police force. Since then, with the support of these friends and a Catholic brotherhood, he has been able to hide in various French monasteries.
48 years later. A man who goes by the name of David Manenbaum is given the job of killing Brossard. However, he suspects the danger, shoots Manenbaum and flees. He asks the retired Commissioner Vionnet, whom he knows from the time of the war, for support.
Meanwhile, the judge Annemarie Livi, supported by Colonel Roux, is looking for Brossard. The two find out that the attacks on Brossard were not, as initially suspected, carried out by a Jewish group. It was former police friends who put professional killers on Brossard. They want to get rid of Brossard so that if he's caught he can't testify against them. The next assassin is already on the way.
Several times Brossard managed to escape his pursuers Livi and Roux, who chased him from monastery to monastery, at the last moment. In the meantime he is also looking for refuge with his wife Nicole, who has left him. He can expose and shoot another killer. Unaware that his former friends are after him, he lets himself be lured into a trap while trying to leave France and is shot. A letter left by the murderer is supposed to simulate that a Jewish group executed Brossard for his war crimes.
However, Livi and Roux find out that Commissioner Vionnet was the one who helped Brossard escape from prison. They find him and force him to expose the powerful person who supported Brossard on his escape over the years and who later wanted his death.
background
The film was shot in Paris , Chantilly and Aix-en-Provence . Its production amounted to an estimated 23 million US dollars . The film grossed around $ 763,000 in US cinemas.
Reviews
The lexicon of international films wrote that the plot was based on the story of Paul Touvier , and criticized the film for “ embellishing the fate of the murderer of Jews with invented events and largely devaluing it as the subject of a political thriller. What is fascinating, however, is the portrayal of the main character by Michael Caine, who succeeds in creating an oppressive portrait of a self-pitying monster. "
Cinema magazine wrote: “Less thriller than psychogram, the film primarily presents a brilliant Michael Caine, who balances between excessive self-pity and moments of realization, between sadism and fragility, and who does not want to become a two-dimensional villain. Pierre Brossard, like most murderers, is just human. An uncomfortable finding. Conclusion: calm, intelligent and played great. An oppressive moral piece for mature viewers. "
Awards
The film won the Genie Award in 2004 for sound and sound editing . He also received the Directors Guild of Canada Award in 2004 for sound editing . The German Film and Media Evaluation FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the rating of particularly valuable.
literature
- Brian Moore : Chase. Roman (Original title: The Statement ). German by Bernhard Robben . Diogenes, Zurich 1999, 296 pages, ISBN 3-257-23096-6
Web links
- The statement in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Statement on Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- The Statement at Metacritic (English)