The Offence (1973)

Something Like the Truth

The Offence is directed by Sidney Lumet and adapted to screenplay by John Hopkins from his own play titled This Story of Yours. It stars Sean Connery, Ian Bannen, Trevor Howard and Vivien Merchant. Cinematography is by Gerry Fisher and music by Harrison Birtwistle.

Detective Sergeant Johnson (Connery) has been with the British Police Force for two decades, in that time he has been witness to countless murders, rapes and other serious crimes. The images, the people he has had to deal with, have left a terrible mark on him. When suspected child sex attacker Kenneth Baxter (Bannen) comes up for interrogation by Johnson, his mind starts to fracture and he loses control, unleashing a dark side that comes out both physically and mentally.

You wouldn't think it possible for Lumet and Connery to have a hidden gem in their respective career outputs, but The Offence is very much just that. An unnerving skin itcher with an upsetting narrative core, The Offence was a commercial flop. It barely got released across the globe and only found its way onto home format release in the last 10 years. The film only got made after Connery struck a deal with United Artists, he would only return as James Bond for Diamonds Are Forever if they backed him for a couple of projects. One of which was The Offence, so with free licence to play Johnson, and his choice of Lumet in the directing chair, Connery got the film made.

Set with a bleak concrete back drop of a "New Town" (cheaply built monstrosities the government knocked up to ease the housing issues), The Offence is a fascinating blend of police procedural and psychological drama. It poses many questions, and thrives on ambiguity to the point repeat viewings are a must, but in the main what shrieks out is the thematic point of one mans harrowing employment taking its toll on he himself. Is it possible that you can only chase and be amongst monsters yourself for so long before you become one of that number? It's invariably hard to recommend the film as high entertainment, a comfy night in by the fire this film is not. But as film art, a searing character study and acting supreme, it scores impressively high whilst tantalisingly tickling the cranium.

It's fair to say it's very dialogue heavy, and Lumet as polished a director as he is, keeps it grainy, revelling in the bleakness of the story. Connery has never been better, utterly compelling, a brooding force of nature and as committed to role as he has ever been. Nor, too, arguably, has Bannen, the scenes shared between the two men are lessons in acting as they portray two warped minds bouncing off each with an unsettling force that grips us round the throat and refuses to let go long after the credits have rolled. Howard steps in to add a touch of mature quality, he too bringing the best out of Connery in the scenes they share, while Merchant as Johnson's "on the outside" wife, is raw and heartfelt.

You can't pigeon hole The Offence, it's very much one of a kind and it demands to be tracked down by serious film fans. From the low key score and foreboding 70s setting, to the gripper of a denouement, The Offence is an essential piece of British cinema. 9.5/10

"Johnson" (Sean Connery) is a world-weary police sergeant who has long since lost interest in his career when he finds a young girl in the woods. It's clear that she has been sexually assaulted and upon return to the station he asks to spend some time with the prime suspect - "Baxter" (Ian Bannen). What we already know is the result of that meeting, and for the better part of the next two hours we weave through the timelines of the night's activities, brutalities and we also discover something more of what has driven the hope from the policeman and the joys of marriage from the husband. His wife "Maureen" (Vivien Merchant) tries to reach him, but his walls are high and thick. His boss "Cartwright" (Trevor Howard) tries to reach him - using entirely different tactics, but he too comes up against a brick wall. The conversations that yield most occur between the potential nonce and the man interrogating him using the ultimate in carrot and stick techniques. Will we ever get to the truth? I thought there something quite brave of Connery to take on this part; it is a far cry from anything of his previously more populist roles and shows a man walking a very thin line between sanity and mania - and the monochrome photography and almost claustrophobic staging help him pull that off quite successfully. It's Bannen, though, whose short appearances are the most affecting. His creepy characterisation of "Baxter" vacillates effectively as he is questioned and in that process he skilfully elicits unintended responses and provokes unintended reactions from a "Johnson" whose control of the procedure is wafer thin. It is very theatrically presented using only three of four different scenes and focussing intently on the dialogue and some uncomfortably intrusive camerawork - and for me, that worked quite well at maintaining a palpable sense of peril throughout, even though we know how some of the threads must come together at the end. Plausible? Well on that front, I have to say that anyone with any experience of custody suites or police protocols would probably think the dramatic licence a little too over-stretched, but it's not trying to be a documentary - more of a tautly paced and complex psychological thriller that is really quite disturbing to watch.