Have You Seen It?

Country of Origin: United Kingdom. Tantallon presents a United Artists Release. Written by John Hopkins. Produced by Denis O’Dell. Directed by Sidney Lumet. Starring Sean Connery(Johnson), Trevor Howard(Cartwright), Vivien Merchant(Maureen), Ian Bannen(Baxter). Running time: 112 minutes.

Sidney Lumet’s The Offence is a difficult, disturbing, but engrossing police drama that opens with a violent confrontation between a police sergeant(Sean Connery) and his peers. It then winds itself, ever more tightly, towards multiple meanings of offence. If you are going into this film expecting a James Bond-like vehicle for Sean Connery, you will have to adjust your expectations before seeing this. The Offence is a serious and very well-done movie.

Someone has molested and then killed three children from a British town. A fourth molested child is found alive by Sergeant Johnson(Connery), a twenty-year veteran of the police force. When a suspect, Baxter(Ian Bannen), is brought in for interrogation, Johnson chooses to question him. The interrogation does not go well.

It has long been acknowledged that Sean Connery was a formidable actor but it is easy to forget how good he could be if your point of reference is the James Bond movies. Here, his performance’s high quality comes largely from the conflicted levels of humanity he expresses with his eyes and his face. There is also the overall physical expression of his performance. We see how his character moves and we immediately know, among other things, that he is not a man to be messed with. And then there is Connery’s sheer star power: we cannot take our eyes off him, even when his character makes us uncomfortable.

Another quality of the film that stands out is the art direction by John W. Clark. The art direction of the police station serves a dual purpose. Narratively, it is the location of much of the film’s action. Symbolically, parts of the station are incomplete and under construction, like the crime that has yet to be solved. At another time, the art direction contributes a striking psychological and emotional resonance to the film. Johnson’s home looks subtly like an office, his work life being what he can never escape mentally or emotionally.

The Offence is a very character-driven piece. This strength is also one of its challenges. At its center are characters who aren’t especially likable but they are remarkably credible. In the case of Sean Connery, this is when an actor with star power can carry you through some very harsh emotional and psychological territory. You may not like his character but because he is played by Connery, you are compelled to keep watching.

The Offence gives us an understanding of what makes its difficult central characters tick. Both Sergeant Johnson and Baxter are men who lead painful, imperfect lives. The Offence is a film that aggressively chooses to not look away.