The Confession

The master of the political thriller, Costa-Gavras, became an instant phenomenon after the mammoth success ofZ,and he quickly followed it with the perhaps even more rivetingThe Confession.Based on a harrowing true story, the film stars Yves Montand as an influential Czechoslovak dignitary who, in the early fifties, was abducted, imprisoned, and interrogated by fellow members of his country’s Communist ruling party—their intentions vague, their methods terrifying. Also starring Simone Signoret and Gabriele Ferzetti, Costa-Gavras’s film is an unflinching depiction of a troubled historical period and the miasma of twentieth-century politics.