The Offence (1972, Sidney Lumet) - Memory Montage

[mszl]

Does anyone have access to the original screenplay?

[viejoratondeltiempo]

those flashbacks of connery's worst experiences as a cop... the sound of the breaking glass and the train. Sidney Lumet is truly a legend.

[Widukind75]

Sidney Lumet was a amazing film director. The world lost one of the most talented and most creative people we have. We also love his movies in Germany but I think the whole world loved him.

Rest in peace Sidney

[MetallicBill]

It's on THIS HDTV TV channel where I reside in MN, at this moment actually, I decided to look up some info on it! haha The subtitles can't keep up with Connery's lines he says, so, you guys catch everything?!? It's hard to hear these old audio soundtracks for me, anyway. The film was looking to be a crime thriller in the same tradition we see today, but it's more about the burned out shell of a man, pushed to the edge,. Reminds me of the uber great scene of Al Pacino in HEAT talking 2 his wife

[DougPatton1]

@MetallicBill Some Brit-dialects are hard on non-Brit ears, even Bannen & Connery, both Scots from different parts don't sound alike. Apart from Lumet, Loach & too few others, no one tackles tough themes now they're all gutless creeps lookin for soft-shit, hard-sell & big bucks from millions of junk-media fed morons who believe anything. The last true-Brit films that told it like Brits really were & are, were stuff from decades ago like "Trainspotting" & "Scum". Then came the 'Fraud Market'.

[MetallicBill]

@DougPatton1 Well, blame writers perhaps, and certainly Hollywood, for chasing the buck.... as you see in the AFI video on YouTube, even the most respected know that the money side is always a factor in film making, Somed say the more producers on a film, the more trouble it's in, from the making stand-point

[JACKANDJAY10]

@DougPatton1 Sus which came out last year was pretty grim.About a black guy being wrongly interrogated for murder on the night Thatcher took power in 1979.Funnily enough,remined me off this fil and my reason to watch my dvd of this again.

[WarrenCromartie2]

I remember this being filmed just over the road from where i lived. I was about 4 at the time!

[GordonMorrice]

@WarrenCromartie2 Cool! Did you see Connery?

[WarrenCromartie2]

@GordonMorrice No. I don't remember much, apart from loads of police cars and vans around the pond, where the girl had gone missing. I remember my dad taking me out to the side of the road to watch what was going on. He seemed very excited, but at that age I didn't really see what the fuss was all about. I eventually got to see the film in the late 80's on TV. Of course I've bought the DVD since :-)

[SDP1677]

@GordonMorrice yeah I saw Connolly. Brian Connolly from Sweet

[JACKANDJAY10]

@WarrenCromartie2 ..where about was it filmed Warren.? cheers.

[Lowerthetone1]

This film has been with me most of my life. I first saw documentary footage of rehearsals on the BBC's Film 72 (?) show when I was barely in my teens and it made an impression on me even then. I have since seen it numerous times on TV, video and now DVD and it still retains its power. I feel as if I've been on an emotional switchback after a viewing. Yes, it is dark and depressing, but then so are some of Lumet's other masterpieces (in my opinion) like "The Pawnbroker" and "The Hill" .

[JACKANDJAY10]

@Lowerthetone1 ..That Film 72 footage would have made a great extra for the dvd.I bought it around 2003/4 and the quality seems pretty good for the film itself,just a shame no one could be bothered to add any extras's.:/

[tine214]

It is a disturbing, but well acted film. Finally a DVD version did get released on DVD here in USA, but also it can be seen on hulu.com downloaded, though its annoying with the stupid commercial breaks. It is in its full version though.

[MetallicBill]

@tine214 Probably was a LaserDisc version released on DVD. In truth, even poor telecine transfers wind up on DVD optical. I hate to see Connery as an unlikable sort, I prefer to think of him as the Elder Doctor Jones... Indy's dad! That was him at his best

[xandy1959]

its connerys only movie that he starred in that isnt avalable on dvd in the usa

[xandy1959]

it was a film of a stage play

[GordonMorrice]

Indeed it was. The play was titled, "This Story of Yours" (1968) by John Hopkins who also wrote the screenplay.

[JungleFixJake]

Surely a precursor to the brilliant "Red Riding". The interrogation scene between Bannen and Connery is top class.

[johnanthonyp]

Do ypu remember he gets really terrifying and throws the men around who are sent to contain him? And his crazed face ro face with Ian Bannen is an acting masterclass. Whos the mad man? I know who I'd be more scared of. Absolute classic! Well done, Gordon!

[Soundtrackcollector]

Uncomfortable film in parts, however a must-see-that-again DVD.

Well done for putting this one on - thanks.

[DougPatton1]

Sean was once interviewed about his long film career, and the interviewer asked about 'The Offence' , Sean just drawled "Oh, yeah...'The Offence' " and would make say nothing more.

I believe the transference of pompous investigator into repressed offender was too much for his ego, yet as has been rightly stated he did a great job of tackling a theme and dark impulses which reside in many - if not all, including kids capable of cruelty though non-PC to state that in this cowardly correct era.

[MetallicBill]

@DougPatton1 I recently bought Outland, and was not familiar with this one till it aired, but at first thought it too odd like Zardoz. I disliked that film, it does not hold up well though, me thinks. If he financed it himself, and it did not fare well in release, maybe he was disappointed about that, or could not recall it well? He's said in recent years he prefers a round of golf to anything resembling work! haha

[terrycharnley]

@MetallicBill I bought Outland myself a few years back. Frankly, except for this dark masterpiece, I think it's Connery's finest film. I love science fiction and Outland is one of my absolute favs. If you were disappointed by it, fair enough, too each their own, but I found it simple, gritty and very well done. The opening always reminded me of the opening of Alien and the director was Peter Hyams, the maestro behnd such greats as The Relic and 2010.

[GordonMorrice]

@terrycharnley I really like Outland. I saw it again recently and found it to be full of raw power. It needs a new HD transfer thought. It appears to have some gorgeous shots but the current DVD and TV versions look shit.

[MetallicBill]

@terrycharnley It's a very slow burn, so to speak, not wall to wall suspense and action. I did see Robin Hood with Costner this week, Connery plays the King returned at the end, and it's fantastic too see him in an upbeat role because he just makes you smile when he's cracking a joke. And I get the impression he's a man who enjoys things more then getting depressed. It's why he left acting, he did not enjoy the work process

[JACKANDJAY10]

@DougPatton1 Sometimes i almost see it as an insult to the people who loved the film, when actors dismiss their work.On a completely different level - the way James Bolam dismisses the Likely Lads.

[DougPatton1]

True@JACKANDJAY10, but the post-1970s/FraudMarket-ongoing fact is that so called stars can't expose themselves to ridicule by confounding today's 'Received Ignorance'/Junk-Meeja about true pedophilia-adultophilia of which the shallow ignorant masses are allowed to know squat. Ironically they know about as much as the joke James Bond knows about true spying=SQUAT! J. Irons made a brave defence of 'Lolita'/1998 with a friend's positive account of her experiences, but now he's folded too. LOL-ita.

[JACKANDJAY10]

@DougPatton1.whatever the content of any film,i suppose you could always "wonder'' what's going on in the creative minds of the people who produce the piece..as in Sean Connery for this film.Apparently the offence was a flop and part of a deal struck by Connery with UA.The film must have raised more than a few eye brows at the time..I'm going to open myself to ridicule now.!.Am i imagining it, or was Ian Bannens character never actualy formerly accused of the "crimes" ?..or meant to be obvious.?

[DougPatton1]

True too @JACKANDJAY10: The psycho-drama here which should be frequent required viewing for debate, is about the same primal urges hidden by 'PC/Pure Cowardice', and aired in another underrated classic 'The Wicker Man', cited by the most prolific film-actor of all time, the honest Christopher Lee, as his best ever. The 'suspect' was not charged and he knew as was being beaten up that the grossly overcompensating 'bent-cop' was revealing his own primal urges, now rightly refined as 'Lurve'.

[vidpop]

I have just read on the idmb film website that the film was shot in a month for $1 million dollars. A remarkable achievement. This is one of my favourite films and Sidney Lumet was on his top form.

[vidpop]

This is a masterpiece of suspense and darkness. Bannen and Connery take the story to uncomfortable places for the viewer.

[longerdaysdyings]

This montage is as disturbing as anything I've seen on any film. The images are nightmarish. The half seen car accident, the hanging body, the suicide jump, the railway scene...horribly well done scenes of everyday horror. The music is perfect. The most frightening film I've seen is Polanski's "Repulsion", but this passage is as disturbing. It's a horror film in a much truer sense than most horror films I've seen.

[spurtfather]

Just watched this last night on DVD (at last!!!!) Some film, Connery is on career peak as is the utterly amazing Ian Bannen. Maybe because Lumet was an outsider looking in but his vision of 70's Britain is like nothing I've ever seen before. The way he shoots roads, estates, carparks, flats and offices just blew me way. Like the most Ballardian of urban nightmares. This scene is a prime example. The scene when Bannen 1st appears, wandering shell-shocked down a walkway, is genius. great entrance!

[MauricioCasteglione]

One of the best Sean Connery movies. A remarkable performance, a strong psychological drama.

[eric2fisher]

I have this on a very tattered and battered VHS. Being no expert but I was told that /Sean Connery financed this movie out of his own pocket.

Police brutality ? see Hear ! cunts.

[catblanket14uk]

Age 42... McQueen did The Getaway, Eastwood did Joe Kidd, Hackman did The Poseidon Adventure...BTW "tattered and battered" is class stuff!

[decker37]

Watched this little known classic last night on DVD, with great performances from both Sean Connery (proving he really can act) and the late Ian Bannen. However, along with the rest of the British films made around that time in the early '70's it was a commercial flop. This probably explains why the British film industry virtually ground to a halt by the late 70's. Hardly no film distributor (and there was only EMI and Rank by then) would touch a British film with a bargepole.

[catblanket14uk]

why were our films doing so bad? this is interesting. where did we go wrong?

[decker37]

Where we really went wrong was during the 1980's when British filmakers decided to ignore the masses and make films only for the critics instead. What the hell do they know? British films however, have never really been that successful in Britain. Our cinema goers have and always will prefer the American Hollywood type, unlike the French who are passionate about their own films and always have been.

[Rodimus1]

A great and underappreciated work of Lumet's.

[spurtfather]

great bit of 70's tension right there. Lumet is the man, still making stunning films. "Before the devil knows you're dead" is a killer. Never seen this one, just seen it's on DVD which I didn't know! This clip has swung the decision thou, I'm off tae amazon...

[GordonMorrice]

It's an amazing film. Great performances by every actor. The scene where Trevor Howard interrogates Connery is extremely powerful. Great score by - his only film work - by avant garde legend, Sir Harry Birtwhistle. Gerry Fisher, who shot many of Joseph Losey's films, was the cinematographer and he and Lumet employ minimal lighting, deep focus and slow motion throughout the film. It's available on DVD in Germany, France, Holland, UK. MGM really ought to have released it in the USA (R1) by now.

[Noodles37UK]

@GordonMorrice Can i easily walk into the HMV or Fopp and buy it? Got really cynical the past 5 years and just gave up relying on these organisations as dependable mediums.

[Noodles37UK]

@spurtfather Nice comment. Ah know a fellow Scot when ah see wan ae thum , Lol!