Confession: a beautiful portrait of a corseted woman (review)
In this new version of Beatrix Beck's novel, Nicolas Boukhrief reformulates the question of the enemy within.
Arte will offer this evening The confession. This rereading of Léon Morin, priest, is it worth it? Absolutely. Here is our review.
Basically, what is left of Léon Morin, priest, previous adaptation of Beatrix Beck's novel? Apart from Belmondo, a flirtatious and sexy priest, who excites his parishioners and decides to attack the very reluctant and cold Emmanuelle Riva? Apart from the mocking iconoclasm of Jean-Pierre Melville? Not much.
Boukhrief, for his part, chooses to be less attached to the priest than to Barny, a strong and free woman who wavers and in whom everything mixes: desire and religion, fear and audacity… He relies on the stunning classic beauty of Marine Vacth to sign a beautiful portrait of a corseted woman. But The confession is also a wonderful artistic playground. Imperious movements (the light tracking shots which show Barny's forbidden desire during the last confrontation), ironic editing effects, clever camera placement (the confessional scene between Barny and Morin during their first meeting)…
Nicolas Boukhrief brings to life through purely cinematic choices the issues of the story (historical, human or philosophical) and its real subject: as in Made in Franceas in the beautiful Cortex Also, The confession is a film that reminds us that the enemy is always within. It is the French collaborators who are eating away at the village, but it is also carnal love which will drown the desire for conversion. By confronting the ethics of his character with the upheavals of passions and the rigid etiquette of the time, the filmmaker shows his heroine charting her (right) path and coming up against a chaotic universe. At this point we definitely think more of Zulawski than of Melville.
Trailer :
