Sidney Lumet's The Offence is an explosive film centered around Johnson, a British police inspector, who becomes emotionally shaken by a recent child molestation case. Johnson is the character who finds the child in the aftermath of the events, with this shattering of innocence that Johnson witnesses shaking him hims very core. When the main suspect is brought in Johnson interrogates him, and in an escalation of anger he kills him with his own bare hands. Lument doesn't tell this film in chronological order, with a timeline that jumps all over the place, being a symbolic of Johnson's psyche that seems completely fractured. As the film progresses, Lumet makes it clear that this incident alone didn't push Johnson over the edge, but the tipping point in which he had taken all he could. This is one of Connery's most compelling performances, being an emotionally shaken man due to the heinous crimes committed, bringing a gravitas to the performance as he displays pentup anger and agression towards the darker aspects of human nature. Johnson's character goes through an existential crisis of sorts, uanble to comprehend how this type of behavior is possible. Another interesting aspect of the film is how Lumet draws parallels between the cop and criminal, arguing that both are haunted by darkness that eventually leads them down a similarly dark path. The Offence is certainly an underappreciated film in Lument's canon, with the filmmaker using space to great effect in this film, with depth of field in his compositions that captures the emotions of the scene. The exteriors are almost entirely nightscapes, giving the film a dark setting that perfectly mimic's the themes and narrative of the film. SIdney Lumet's The Offence is a frenzied tale of a man whose been pushed over the edge, featuring maybe Sean Connery's greatest performance.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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