THE STATEMENT
Directed by: Norman Jewison.
Produced by: Robert Lantos & Norman Jewison.
Written by: Ronald Harwood, based on the novel by Brian Moore.
Director of Photography: Kevin Jewison.
Edited by: Stephen Rivkin & Andrew S. Eisen.
Music by: Normand Corbeil.
Released by: Sony Picture Classics.
Country of Origin: Canada/France. 120 min. Rated: R.
With: Michael Caine, Tilda Swinton, Jeremy Northam & Charlotte Rampling.

Against the inside politics of religion and government, Norman Jewison's latest film focuses on Pierre Brossard (Caine), a French WWII war criminal who, amidst the Vichy government's collaboration with the Nazi regime, was responsible for the deaths of seven Jews. The film begins with a flashback of this event and then transports us immediately to the present where we now find Brossard living in obscurity, residing within the sanctum of a French abbey. However, his anonymity evaporates - a hit man has discovered his whereabouts, and soon after Brossard is charged with crimes against humanity. Pursued by both a killer and the police, Brossard is forced into running for his own survival while haunted by a past that can no longer hide securely behind Fatherly love and protection.

In a balanced portrayal of both a predator and prey, Michael Caine makes you waver between wanting him to get away and to get his comeuppance. While we recognize his tendencies towards sadism and prejudice, we also recognize his present powerlessness against a system just as ruthless and deceptive. Only his character, however, undergoes any character development. The other cast members (including Tilda Swinton, Jeremy Northam, and Charlotte Rampling) turn in fine performances, but their roles are unfortunately relegated more to the circumstances of the chase and less on insights into their psyches and relationships. When the film does attempt to flesh out some of these latter elements, much of the dialogue feels expository, as if constructed out of an obligation to fill in the holes, rather than to unfold undetected within the dramatic action. And holes there are when it comes to making sense of the multiple factions of religious orders, branches of government, and positions of state and clergy. Though beset with similar problems, the novel makes better use of its narrative, grounding the characters within their individual conflicts and making clearer their battles for power against the underlying issues of individual and national conscience.

As a result, The Statement becomes more of a confusing than a reflective look at what the past has wrought on Pierre and France - its game of cat-and-mouse overshadows its attempts at self-reflection. Max Rennix, actor/writer based in New York
December 12, 2003