Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Richard Burton | ... | Father Goddard | |
Dominic Guard | ... | Benjie | |
David Bradley | ... | Arthur (as Dai Bradley) | |
Billy Connolly | ... | 'Blakey' / Blakey | |
Andrew Keir | ... | Headmaster | |
Willoughby Gray | ... | Brigadier Walsh | |
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Preston Lockwood | ... | Father Hibbert |
James Ottaway | ... | Father Matthews | |
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Brook Williams | ... | Father Clarence |
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Jon Plowman | ... | Father Piers |
Robin Soans | ... | Father Henryson | |
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Trevor Martin | ... | Mr. Gladstone |
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Sharon Duce | ... | Louella |
Brian Glover | ... | First Policeman | |
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Dan Meaden | ... | Second Policeman |
At a Catholic public school, Benjamin "Benjie" Stanfield (Dominic Guard) is tired of being the teacher's pet and decides to play a practical joke on his form master Father Goddard (Richard Burton). In confession, Stanfield tells Goddard that he has accidentally murdered his friend Blakey (Sir Billy Connolly) and buried him in the forest. When Goddard investigates the matter, he finds a buried scarecrow. Goddard is outraged, but, due to the seal of confession, he knows he cannot expel Stanfield. Shortly after, Stanfield once again enters the confession booth, telling Goddard that what before was a practical joke, he has now made happen. In disbelief, Goddard once again goes to the forest to investigate the matter. This time, he discovers Blakey's dead body. The plot soon thickens as Stanfield's fellow student Arthur Dyson (David Bradley) mysteriously disappears.
Richard Burton plays a priest in Absolution. I know, his real-life persona was very un-priest-like, but that's why it's called acting! I mean, Frank Sinatra played a very convincing priest in The Miracle of the Bells, and he was just as un-saintly as Richard Burton in real life. Anyway, Burton gives a great performance as a man of the cloth. He's conflicted and pained, and when he even hears about a sin, you can see him struggling not to take it as a personal insult.
He's a teacher and mentor in a boys' Catholic school, and during one of his lessons, the boys ask about the rules during confession. If someone confesses to a crime, will the priest turn him into the police? Burton answers, almost directly into the camera for the audience's benefit, that the priest is bound to silence and can't call the police if he's told of a crime. Then, surprise! One of his students confesses a murder.
Granted, if this movie had been made today, it would be a lot more gruesome, and probably have a few more twists and turns. But it was made in 1978, and so if you watch it, keep that in mind. There are a couple of violent scenes, but nothing overly graphic. And I thought it was thrilling, with enough twists and turns to keep me on the edge of my seat. It's a lot of fun to watch a manipulative, snot-nosed student take Burton to the brink of insanity!