The Statement

This movie can be enjoyed for its high production values, excellent acting (particularly Michael Caine and "ice queen" Tilda Swinton), and looking at the wonderful on-location photography of Europe. Unfortunately the primary purpose of this box office dud was to create still another re-write of World War II in Europe to focus on the Jews, the Jews and nothing but the Jews. Literally hundreds of movies have now been made to weave the misconception that the war was about the Jews. It was not. It WAS about the invasions of Czechoslovakia, Poland, France, the bombing of Rotterdam with 20,000 buildings destroyed in 20 minutes, the V-2 rocketing of London, the enslavement of thousands, horrible medical experiments, et cetera. Yet an entire generation has been taught that the be-all and end-all of WW II was the Jews. Even in the context of this film, the focus is on 7 Jews shot by the Vichy government. 7 Jews! What about the millions of French citizens betrayed by Vichy? Hmmm! The second propaganda agenda is to pretend the Catholic Church was sympathetic to the Nazis. Taint so, McGee.

I am afraid that Catholic believers are better entitled to understand the true essence of The Statement. Protestants and agnostics are admittedly individualists, but a Catholic believes that sin is collective and pardon is collective, too. When a Catholic says "The Church" he is meaning the body of believers, and not only the organization with headquarters in Rome. All those who submitted comments on this film have forgotten that Brossard was NOT a criminal before the passing of the law on crimes against humanity, so the Church was giving him shelter against outlaws who wanted to eliminate him, not against the State. The Catholic Church has always given protection to the persecuted, as we Brazilians do know from the times of our not-really-entirely-gone military dictatorship. During World War II, the French clergy helped the communists and the partisans, and priests have always given their life in the defense of the persecuted. So, Brossard believes that he can receive remission, because remission is never denied to anyone, but he sees his world coming down around him - the true criminals being those who are now in power and KEEP killing to maintain power. And Brossard is a touching portrait of a man like me and you who only wants to put and end to his paying his debts.

While this is an interesting thrill ride (and Caine is a marvelous actor), the problems associated with the movie detract too much to make it worth watching. The basic story involves a former Nazi affiliate being hunted down after avoiding execution for over 40 years. In short, the Catholic Church has been hiding and supporting the fugitive, because they have also been guilty of anti-semitism, and they believe that he just obeyed orders when he killed 7 Jews and later repented. He now has constant nightmares about the whole thing, and they sympathize, having granted him absolution. They turn out to be as corrupt as mafia. The half-Jewish now agnostic judge who pursues Caine is a moderately interesting character, but the audience never can truly sympathize with her because she's rude, arrogant and impulsive most of the time - a young, annoying idealist. The Caine character is interesting because he has touching moments (like when he leaves money and a penitant, caring, thankful note for his estranged wife) and seems genuinely emotional, open and desperate at times. Clearly, he's not simply a hard-hearted man, yet he does despicable things like kick an innocent dog. Perhaps this is meant to mimic the Sopranos? Although the movie may be trying to say something about justice and corruption, it's hard to engage, because there is no real protagonist [it's not Caine simply because he's a fugitive although the audience roots for Caine at times because the camera follows him]. The viewer needs a little more affinity with the young female judge or one of the people pursuing the murderer for his crimes against humanity if we are to engage this film beyond its action-adventure. Secondly, the story is set entirely in France with all French characters, yet NO ONE speaks French! Personne. No restaurant owners, no one conversing on the bus with friends, aucun. It makes the dialog about Caine's character receiving his passport to Canada especially humorous: "Oh good - They speak French there, don't they?" Do they speak French in France too? [see by way of contrast "Last Samurai" where Cruise's character learns Japanese, and most of the movie is subtitled, as Cruise actually speaks Japanese!] To be fair, there is a little nod to France with the occasional French accent, when pronouncing French names. [no I'm not French but how about a touch of cultural sensitivity] There are a number of similar shortcomings with the writing/directing, but perhaps the most serious detraction in my opinion is that, in an interview, the writer spoke a great deal about conservative Catholicism, saying that it's an important time to expose the history of their anti-semitism. He explained their opposition to Vatican II, their practices and their retention of the Latin mass.... Is this another cheap "guilty by association" slam against Mel Gibson? Wow. The media and entertainment community have stooped to some low levels before, but an entire high-budget movie? Why didn't they just cast Gibson in the Caine role as scary religious hypocrite and anti-semite? I actually liked Norman Jewison (and loved Ronald Harwood's "Piano Player"), but now that I realize the ironic persecution of the Church (or Mel) that drove them to make this movie, I'm repulsed. [and no, I'm not Catholic or a particular Gibson fan!] This movie is loosely based on historical events and yes the truth should be told. But will people conclude that all conservative Catholics - or all Christians - are hateful, anti-semitic liars, hypocrites and moblike villians? Such ridiculous conclusions are the sort that seem to be in the air. The whole hateful idea - the hypocritical motivation behind this movie - should be avoided. Stand clear.

Pure rubbish, ridden through with stereotypical Anglo-Saxon anti-Catholic and anti-Continental bigotries and biases. Having said that, some nice scenery but that was about it. I can't believe Michael Caine made something this poor at this point in his career. And now adding more content to satisfy IMDb's requirements: Michael Caine plays an ex-Nazi French collaborator; he "acts" exceedingly nervous throughout the film helped no doubt by the liberal application of some oil-based lubricant to his face; Church officials are of course portrayed as deeply corrupt and dishonest, protecting their pro-fascist sympathies until the heat gets turned on them when naturally they sell out their own man, and so on. Again, the only reason to watch are some nice scenes of the French countryside, one could even let it run with the sound off as a kind of background living-room panoramic.

After France fell to Germany in 1940 , the Vichy regime was set up under Marshal Petain . In 1943 , the Vichy government created a military force called Milice to carry out the Nazi occupiers . When the war was over many of those involved were prosecuted for war crimes . Some get away . A few rose to power . Pierre Brossard ( Michael Caine ) committed crimes against humanity and collaborated with Nazis in WWII . Today Pierre follows hidden by priests of Catholic Church that sheltered him during fifty years and is being protected by a strange sect called The Chevaliers of St. Marie . But a judge ( Tilda Swinton ) and a colonel ( Jeremy Northam ) are investigating his past . Meanwhile , a mysterious murderous ( Matt Craven) is pursuing Pierre to kill him . This TV movie produced by Canadian television in association with BBC packs suspense , mystery , thrills , action and is quite entertaining . Jewison cast some largely known actors as Michael Caine , his wife well played by Charlote Rampling , the starring duo as Tilda Swinton and Jeremy Northam , and a remarkable support cast as Ciaran Hinds as Inspector Pochon , Alan Bates as Bertier , Frank Finlay as the Comissaire and several others . Atmospheric musical score by Norman Corbeil and appropriate cinematography by Kevin Jewison , director's son . The motion picture is professionally produced and directed by Norman Jewison . He is a prestigious and veteran filmmaker, his greatest film is of course Jesus Christ Superstar . He considers The Hurricane (1999) the last in a trilogy of racial bigotry movies he's realized, the first two being In the Heat of the Night (1967) and A Soldier's Story (1984). The film terminates with an epilogue based on real events , that says the following : ¨At 5:00 am , on June 29, 1944, in Rilleux -La-Pape, France, seven Jews were executed ¨. The movie is dedicated to those seven men and the 77.000 other French Jews who perished under German occupation and the Vichy regime .

In Norman Jewison's tepid thriller, `The Statement,' English-accented Michael Caine plays Pierre Brossard, an aging French war criminal whose past has begun to catch up with him. In 1944, Brossard, a member of the infamous Vichy regime, not only collaborated with the Nazis, but was personally responsible for the cold-blooded execution of 14 unarmed Jewish Frenchmen as well. Immediately after the war, Brossard was tried and convicted for these offenses, but somehow managed to escape before he could face his deserved punishment. In the years since, Brossard has lived his life underground, finding protection and sanctuary from a branch of the Roman Catholic Church sympathetic to his cause. And although the French authorities have been unsuccessful in their attempts to locate him, Brossard has recently found himself the target of a mysterious group of assassins, possibly members of a secret Jewish organization seeking justice for his yet unavenged crimes against humanity. The idea of a Nazi war criminal still living in hiding all these years after the end of World War II has the makings of an interesting movie, no doubt, but `The Statement' is not that movie. To the filmmakers' credit, they do at least attempt to present Brossard as a three-dimensional character, a man who, decades after his horrendous crimes, is still seeking redemption through his pious devotion to the Church. Caine, in a deftly balanced performance, manages to make Brossard almost sympathetic while still allowing us to see the `monster' hidden beneath the ravaged soul. Unfortunately, the actor is let down by a screenplay that seems more concerned with tired cloak-and-dagger espionage routines than with a serious study of a fascinating and conflicted character. Even more annoying is the attempt on the part of the film to paint the entire Catholic Church hierarchy as a bunch of diabolical, self-serving individuals who are busy either protecting one of their own at any or all costs or acting out of political expediency rather than true moral conviction. Fans of `The Da Vinci Code' may swallow this anti-Catholic paranoia without question, but the rest of us can merely wonder why the Church hasn't been able to cop a break from the movies since Father Damien kicked the be-Jesus out of the devil in `The Exorcist,' thirty long years ago. I'm certainly no apologist for the Catholic Church (see my review of `The Magdalene Sisters'), but even we non-believers can wonder when we will be seeing a little more evenhandedness and balance in the movies' portrayal of the Church. Certainly there must be SOME well-meaning priest, nun or bishop out there that some filmmaker might consider as worthwhile movie material. There are other problems with the film as well. Tilda Swinton, as an impassioned judge searching for Brossard, and Jeremy Northam, as a more pragmatic policeman who reluctantly joins her in her pursuit, make an annoying, constantly bickering couple who look, for all the world, like a minor-league Mulder and Scully, minus the attraction and charm. Alan Bates and Charlotte Rampling (reunited from `Georgy Girl,' though the two actors never appear in the same scene together) are wasted in minor roles. And Jewison, who was once so fine a young director, fails to bring any of the scenes in this film to life. One also questions the propriety of taking a serious subject like Nazi atrocities and using it as little more than cheap window dressing for an undistinguished, run-of-the-mill thriller. `The Statement,' despite another fine performance from the ever-reliable Michael Caine, is a tired, lackluster and cynical exercise, strangely devoid of meaning, conviction and purpose.

Kudos to Jewison for an important, intelligent film. Someone I know who hadn't been to the cinema in decades saw The Statement last week and has had his faith in film restored by this movie. I can't understand why newspaper critics focussed on the fact that French accents weren't used. I find that some directors, not this one, try to add in accents where they are not at all necessary. After all, the "real" characters merely spoke their language, and didn't have "foreign accents". As an English and French speaker, I find the use of accents in other films (that is, where the real character would not have spoken with a "foreign" accent, but in his or her own language) to be provincial at best and distracting at worst. The director is from Canada - as an intelligent person which we can assume he is based on his brilliant career, he would understand the importance of not adding in accents where they would not naturally have occurred.

THE STATEMENT (2003) ** Michael Caine, Tilda Swinson, Jeremy Northam, Charlotte Rampling, Alan Bates, John Neville, Ciaran Hines, Matt Craven. Caine is the best thing about this rambling and languidly paced suspenser about a true life French policeman who assisted the Nazis in WWII is now being pursued by the dogged investigator Swinson and Northam while marked for execution. Director Norman Jewison clearly knows he has an IMPORTANT movie on his hands but the creaky machinations involved leaves one desiring more meat to the drama at hand.

Much has been written elsewhere about whether or not Norman Jewison had an axe to grind in making this film. Also about the oddness of having the characters speak in English (can one, though, imagine Michael Caine talking in French? - and yet I personally found his portrayal of the aging, desperate, cruel, bigoted and, ultimately, pathetic Pierre Brossard extremely convincing - a much harder part to play than in, say, Educating Rita, Last Orders or The Quiet American). My overall impression about the direction of this film was that it was made primarily for the North-American commercial market. How else to explain the parochialism of captions such as "Marseille, South of France" or "Rome, Italy"? How else to explain the absence of basic research to avoid such unwittingly hilarious howlers as "corp trouvé" (instead of "corps...") or "coup de gras" (for "coup de grâce")? This is Hickville, Canada.

As I considered what to say about "The Statement", I was reminded of Humphrey Bogart's famous quip to Ingrid Bergman in "Casablanca": "You wore blue, the Germans wore gray." In "The Statement", the Nazis unfortunately are not portrayed in shades of gray, morally speaking, but only in black. Or to be more accurate, a collaborator with the Nazis, one Pierre Brossard. The entire message of the film is utterly simplistic: collaborating with the Nazis, bad; relentlessly hunting down Nazi collaborators, good. "The Statement" plays out like a run-of-the-mill police detective story, with the 70-something lead character (played by Michael Caine) ludicrously providing most of the action/adventure sequences. This, in spite of his age and his ailing heart! Tilda Swinton and Jeremy Northam are wasted as the pursuers. There is a brief hint of a possible romantic involvement, but this is never developed beyond the merest suggestion. However, Charlotte Rampling shines as Pierre Brossard's long-suffering, put-upon yet loyal wife. Ms. Rampling continues her string of stellar performances in the past few years. ("Under the Sand" and "Swimming Pool" are her most recent achievements.) "The Statement" could have been a superior, even a great film, if it had taken another path. It could have examined why Pierre Brossard collaborated with the Nazis. ("Following orders" is not good enough. We've heard this before, from the Andersonville trial to Nuremberg to the My Lai massacre.) "The Statement" could also have examined whether Pierre Brossard could really have changed and turned his life around, whether he could have redeemed himself. As things stand, his guilt, his attacks of conscience and his religious faith come off as phony and self-serving, rather than genuine contrition. Some may call me a nitpicker, but it irked me that the French characters in this film were portrayed and voiced by quintessentially English actors. (Only the Nazis speak German.) To rub salt in the wound, one sequence shows fictitious footage from a French television network -- and the caption contains a grammatical error and no French accents. This is an insult to the intelligence of the viewing audience, as if the producers had decided that moviegoers would be too stupid to spot the mistake and it was not worth correcting. Shame on the BBC for being so shoddy and careless!