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The Confession

1970 · 139 min

A cold, methodical descent into bureaucratic cruelty that wears you down alongside its prisoner, leaving a lingering chill.

Overview
In 1950s communist Czechoslovakia, a government minister, a war veteran long a loyal party man, leads a relatively comfortable life with his wife. However, he soon finds himself under surveillance, then under arrest. Unclear what his offense is, agents for the totalitarian regime interrogate and torture him, aiming to use their unending power to gain a false confession for these supposed crimes against the state.
In the UKNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • tensestrength 3 of 3
  • darkstrength 3 of 3
  • bleakstrength 2 of 3
  • earneststrength 2 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
demanding, 4 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • power
  • corruption
  • betrayal
  • isolation
  • justice
Places
  • prison
  • big city
Era
period
Audience
adult
Form
  • true story
  • nonlinear
Content intensity
  • Gore mild
  • Language mild
  • Violence strong
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action2
Horror3
Humour0
Realism9
Romance1
Tension8
Darkness8
Complexity7
Emotional weight8

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Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
drama, thriller
Directed by
Costa-Gavras
Written by
Jorge Semprún
Starring
Yves Montand, Simone Signoret, Gabriele Ferzetti, Michel Vitold, Jean Bouise, Michel Beaune, Jacques Rispal, Antoine Vitez
Music
Giovanni Fusco
Cinematography
Raoul Coutard
Runtime
139 min
Country
France, Italy
Languages
French, Spanish

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