released in 1972 and number 110 in the masters of cinema collection is the offense starring
sean connery directed by sydney lumet this is a partnership of people who worked over five movies
recently i think it was this year i watched the anderson tapes loved it and this was one of those
movies that i really wanted to get to especially after the passing of sean connery this is regarded
as a really good movie in his cv and i felt that it was time to go and check out something
new from the man and wow the offense is utterly wonderful shocking disturbing a movie that's going
to stick with me one that i was just gobsmacked by connery's performance and a movie that is really
simply laid out you know what's up it's basically a movie with four various parts and we have
the opening of the movie where we're introduced to our main character detective sergeant johnson
which is connery and he is investigating a series of child attacks and murders and
we see early on that someone is abducted we don't see by whom
and then we have the the repercussions of finding the girl she's still alive
and they find a perpetrator someone they think could have been involved in this case
and that's like one scene at the start of the movie then we have
chat with his wife after his day at work the things that have happened what's going on
then we have a chat with one of his bosses who's interviewing about the offense that's happened
and then we get even a flashback sequence at the end of the actual interview
and everything that happened during that simply placed out is an easy movie to grab hold of but
the performances the information and the thematics that they are are rich and so wonderful
to really get drawn into this movie opens with a wonderful slow motion sequence as we kind of see
things unfold as we see connery um has done something heinous he has attacked and almost
killed a person of interest in a case within this interview room we see the body getting wheeled
out and then we get connery going home to his wife and this is where the movie really kicks into gear
as we start to see a man on his drive home as someone who's been affected and warped
and disturbed by all these horrible things that he's encountered through his work life
kind of things that has wore him down that's almost desensitized him but has had a deep
emotional effect on this character who's almost broken this character who has lashed out and been
violent because of the things that have been prevalent within his life and getting home to his
wife it was a wonderful scene as he's drinking as he's conversing as he's bullying her verbally he
is horrible to his wife and it's this ritualistic systematic abuse that's throughout the movies
things that he's seen things he's seen people do that's now eating into his life and now he's
driving it on to his wife he is nasty to her in the most aggressive way you know challenging her
looks just pointedly bringing her down and there's a moment where she walks away angry and upset
and without saying anything the actress just stops in the hallway you almost see her thinking
about it and going back into this character it's a feeling of a real relationship she knows that he's
damaged she knows that something's happened that's really tore him down and she wants to go and help
him and even though he's being a antagonistic and aggressive towards her she pushes that aside and
tries to help him get all this stuff off his chest and some of the things he says
are visceral and disgusting and horrifying and the way that connery portrays this is
magical and in such a way of of getting across this information as he jumps about it's not
um it's not a proper stream of consciousness it is all over the place as things pop
into his mind he's verbalizing it and constantly just barraging this woman
with the disgusting and horrifying scenes that he's encountered we get the conversation with his
boss or one of his bosses who's investigating what happened and that that leads down a whole other
route of um i haven't been in the other foot of the interrogation him being questioned not knowing
where he stands not realizing that this person at some points trying to help him some points
trying to push him into a corner and it becomes an almost battleground of wearing
each other down and it's done over a period of time and it's wonderful and then we get
then we get the the interview with the suspect and it's a wonderfully aggressive
scene as we see these two people uh just releasing their utmost Ids and you never
know whether this guy was innocent or guilty it doesn't matter it's all about the systemic
acceptance of abuse throughout the movie and i think that connery is utterly magnetic in this
role as this character who is a little bit older a little bit overweight little bit um of the old
guard who is aggressive in almost all wards of his life who has had this waterfall of abuse just beat
him down and tear him down and remove him from humanity almost as he tries to cope with the
things that he's done and what he's seen people do to each other utterly utterly affecting and the
direction by sydney lumet is wonderful especially that slow motion opening the way the movie is cut
is delightful particularly the opening scenes and the interview sequence as well it's just
terrific allowing the scenes to play out when they need to be using of angles to create some nice
juxtaposition of the characters as they're like on screen there's a wonderful moment with connery and
his wife which for me is just a standout moment in the movie which is elongated moment where connery
is facing one way and his wife's facing another and it's just wonderfully composed the offense was
easily five out of five movie it's a movie that i will never forget it's a movie that i think is
essential viewing and possibly if not the one of connery's best movies it's that
wonderful do yourself a favor search it out check it out and
let me know your thoughts in this movie in the comment box below i can't wait to read
what you lovely film fanatics have to say about this and i'll see you next time on man v film