The Statement (2003)

Director:

Norman Jewison

Writers:

Ronald Harwood (screenplay)
Brian Moore (novel)

Release Date:

27 February 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Thriller | Drama

Tagline:

At the end of World War II, many of those involved in war crimes were prosecuted. Some got away. Until now.

Plot:

Tale of a former Nazi executioner who becomes a target of hit men and Police investigators. |

Plot Keywords:

Police | Catholic Church | Typewriter | Murder | Vichy France

Awards:

4 wins

Cast

Michael Caine	...	Pierre Brossard
Tilda Swinton	...	Annemarie Livi
Jeremy Northam	...	Colonel Roux
Alan Bates	...	Armand Bertier
Charlotte Rampling	...	Nicole
John Neville	...	Old Man
Ciarán Hinds	...	Pochon
Frank Finlay	...	Commissaire Vionnet
William Hutt	...	Le Moyne
Matt Craven	...	David Manenbaum
Noam Jenkins	...	Michael Levy
Peter Wight	...	Inspector Cholet
Malcolm Sinclair	...	Cardinal of Lyon
Colin Salmon	...	Father Patrice
David de Keyser	...	Dom André (as David De Keyser)

Also Known As:

Crimes contre l'humanité (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence.

Runtime:

USA:120 min | Argentina:120 min

Country:

Canada | France | UK

Language:

English | German | Italian | Latin | French

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Australia:M | Argentina:16 | USA:R | UK:12A | Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | Canada:14A (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Château de Chantilly, Chantilly, Oise, France

Company:

Serendipity Point Films

Trivia:

Alan Bates' final theatrical film appearance.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Brossad kills the assassin, he removes the assassin's passport and places it in his right pants pocket. He removes the passport from his left pants pocket while he is sitting in the car at the abbey.

Movie Connections:

Features Only You (1994)

Soundtrack:

Tous les garçons et les filles

A bit of a flop

I dare say this film would have been much better received had it cast the film logically rather than have 'everybody's favourite Cockney' Michael Caine playing somebody called Pierre Boussard - I mean, Caine has never struck me as a "Pierre" somehow. And we can say for sure, that it couldn't have done any worse, a $22m financial loss is testament to that.

Of course I realise the book is in English, but there is a big difference between the two mediums and very rarely does a film pull off a stunt like this, see 'The Hunt For Red October' or Jude Law's Russian misfortune in 'Enemy At The Gates'. At least The Statement didn't slip into having Caine and co. adopt Gallic accents - that would have been too much to bare.

As for the film itself, it seemed a complete waste of police time to have half of the French PD chasing round after an OAP with a heart condition who'd been *ordered* to kill seven people 50 years earlier during German occupation. And for the film to set itself up as some sort of chase thriller, it very rarely gets past a stroll and the tension never really reaches the levels it should do.

All that said though, there are far worse films out there and this isn't an altogether bad way to spend 2 hours. 6/10