Summary
Gérard has been a loyal supporter of communism for all his adult life, serving
in the French Resistance during the Second World War and supporting the civil war in Spain.
Now, in 1951, he is the deputy minister for foreign affairs in Czechoslovakia. One
day, he discovers that he is being followed, and, shortly after he is arrested and taken
away to a makeshift prison. Without knowing why he has been arrested or who his
captors are, Gérard is ordered to confess to his crimes against the State.
Ultimately, he cracks and he signs a confession, but soon finds himself in a show trial
where he and many of his colleagues are accused of treason...
Review
Costa-Gavras followed his hugely successful film Z with L’Aveu, the second
of what was to become a series of critically acclaimed political thrillers. L’Aveu
was based on the novel by Arthur London which recounted his own experiences of detention
by the USSR state police. The film, like the novel, offers a shocking and vivid
portrayal of the brutal methods used by the police during the Stalinist regime, and also
evokes the insane paranoia which marked this period of political turmoil in Eastern Europe.
Although it is a compelling and disturbing work, L’Aveu is far less accessible
than Z. Much of the political dialogue will go way over the heads of most
audiences, and the repetitive nature of the torture scenes is almost a torture to watch.
Despite this, the audience is rewarded with one of Yves Montand’s best screen performances.
Montand’s wife in this film is in fact played by his real-life wife, Simone Signoret.
© James Travers 2002
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