L'Aveu

The problem with Costa-Gavras movies is that they seem to feed off rather than inform the left-liberal sentiments they espouse. Thus in L'Aveu, an actual case history, we get no context beyond 'here is an example of the evils of Stalinism'. Instead we are offered the simple perspective of the suffering of Arthur London (Montand), a Czech party official (and his wife, Signoret), who is faced in 1951 with the problem of whether to confess to things he didn't do for the sake of the party. The result is a film which blurs as many issues as it raises. Cut by over 20 minutes for distribution in both Britain and America.