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The Statement on DVD (2003)

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Average rating: 59%
12381420101023
2.5
from 133 members
 
Starring: Michael Caine, Tilda Swinton, Jeremy Northam, Alan Bates, Charlotte Rampling
Director: Norman Jewison
Studio: MOMENTUM PICTURES
Run time: 115 mins
Certificate: 12
User collections: Best of British
Genres: Thriller
Languages: English
Released: 09/07/2004

Brief synopsis of The Statement

While a secret society of Catholic priests hide him in various French abbeys, a network of bitter Jewish assassins track him, and a determined judge attempts to use the law to pin a prison sentence on him. This highly wanted man is Pierre Brossard (Michael Caine) who committed war crimes--not only murdering Jews but also stealing their money and property--when he was a Nazi in World War II. However, Brossard's wrongdoing happened 40 years in the past and he was in hiding long enough that nobody--not even his own wife (Charlotte Rampling)--feels much like protecting him anymore. On the verge of a heart attack, Brossard scampers from one hiding spot to the next, narrowly evading his multiple pursuers.
A top-notch political thriller directed by Norman Jewison (THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR) and based on a novel by Brian Moore, THE STATEMENT keeps viewers trapped in suspenseful anticipation. Caine's portrayal of Brossard as a nervous, jittery old man with a guilty conscience is palpably upsetting. Meanwhile Tilda Swinton as the judge, and Jeremy Northam as her assistant, make an excellent and convincing detective team. Interesting film work combines sharp footage of provincial France with black and white flashbacks to grueling WWII executions, making the film visually compelling--an excellent complement to its puzzling plotline.

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Critics Reviews

Rating of 2 stars out of 5 Radio Times

Filmed in France, this untypical European outing from Moonstruck director Norman Jewison stars Michael Caine as an ageing French collaborator. Pursuing him for his involvement in the execution of seven Jews are war-crime investigators Tilda Swinton and Jeremy Northam, but their prey manages to stay one step ahead of them with the help of his high-level friends in the Catholic Church and French government. Caine gives his usual solid performance, but Swinton and Northam struggle with their flimsy characters and the film can't quite decide whether it's a chase thriller, a conspiracy yarn or a “message” movie. Sadly, it ends up being a hotch-potch of all three, which is a shame, because there's a good — and original — movie in here somewhere.

Halliwell's Film Guide

An interesting subject, based on a complex novel of guilt and betrayal, is here turned into a straightforward chase movie of a mundane kind.

Nuts

"...Caine again proves himself to be one of Britain's best character actors..."

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Members Reviews

Reviews Voted Most Helpful

Rated - 1 starsDull Dull Dull

A customer from Cumbria , 29/06/2004

Michael Caine is a brilliant actor, but his choice of roles is notoriously wayward. For every Alfie there's an Ashanti, every Mona Lisa a Jaws 4. And for his astonishing, Oscar-nominated turn in The Quiet American, there's The Statement. Leaden, overwrought, and abominably boring, it sees him play a fugitive in 90s France, trying to escape those who want to kill him for working with the Nazis in World War II. Never mind the Cockney collaborator - after 20 minutes you'll want everyone dead.

  13 out of 18 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 2 starsUnder Statement

FrankIV [Highly rated reviewer] , 03/12/2004

This should have been a knock-out: Caine and Swinton directed by Norman Jewison, with a screenplay by Ronald Harwood from a book by Brian Moore and a supporting cast including Charlotte Rampling, John Neville, Alan Bates and Frank Finlay - but, unfortunately, it's all rather flat.

One problem is that the two parts of the film - Caine as pursued, Swinton as pursuer - never come together and seem like separate stories. Most disappointingly, the two stars don't appear together on screen. Also, the script only hints at the ambiguities and paradoxes inherent in the situation and which were to the fore in the book. Something went wrong here - I'll bet that the finished product is not the film that was intended, given the talent involved.

There's enough to keep you watching, but it could have been so much better.

  4 out of 5 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 3 starsPredictable yarn

Stephen Lindsay from Northern Ireland , 23/03/2005

Michael Caine, here on acting autopilot, is a former Nazi collaborator who after the war managed to escape prosecution. Now fifty years later and specific collaborators are being executed with a statement confirming their past crimes left at their corpses.

Ciaran Hinds is impressive as one of the people trying to silence Caine before he reveals too much about his past. Also good are Tilda Swinton and Jeremy Northam as the police investigating the killings.

Ultimately though, no tension and a meandering style leaves you not caring about any of the characters. A shame since the source novel deserved better.

  2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 3 starsStatement of Betrayal

Paul Jay from London, England , 01/01/2007

No nearly as bad as some of the other reviews suggest, with good performances and an interesting storyline ..

I would say however, that Alan Bates & Charlotte Rampling are totally underused of their talents in such small parts, and the plotline loses it's way mid-way in the film, but worth a view in my opinion.

  2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
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Most Recent Reviews

Rated - 3 starsPredictable yarn

Stephen Lindsay from Northern Ireland , 23/03/2005

Michael Caine, here on acting autopilot, is a former Nazi collaborator who after the war managed to escape prosecution. Now fifty years later and specific collaborators are being executed with a statement confirming their past crimes left at their corpses.

Ciaran Hinds is impressive as one of the people trying to silence Caine before he reveals too much about his past. Also good are Tilda Swinton and Jeremy Northam as the police investigating the killings.

Ultimately though, no tension and a meandering style leaves you not caring about any of the characters. A shame since the source novel deserved better.

  2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 2 starsUnder Statement

FrankIV [Highly rated reviewer] , 03/12/2004

This should have been a knock-out: Caine and Swinton directed by Norman Jewison, with a screenplay by Ronald Harwood from a book by Brian Moore and a supporting cast including Charlotte Rampling, John Neville, Alan Bates and Frank Finlay - but, unfortunately, it's all rather flat.

One problem is that the two parts of the film - Caine as pursued, Swinton as pursuer - never come together and seem like separate stories. Most disappointingly, the two stars don't appear together on screen. Also, the script only hints at the ambiguities and paradoxes inherent in the situation and which were to the fore in the book. Something went wrong here - I'll bet that the finished product is not the film that was intended, given the talent involved.

There's enough to keep you watching, but it could have been so much better.

  4 out of 5 people found this review helpful
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