Instant Favorite.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Michael Caine plays a Frenchman, Pierre Broussard, who collaborated with the Nazis during the war in "The Statement" from 2002. He is now an old man and in hiding, using another name, as he was arrested after the war and managed to escape. He is accused of killing 7 Jews, and this is shown in flashback. Now he's been hunted by two groups: vigilantes who intend to execute him, and the law, led by a judge (Tilda Swinton) and her associate (Jeremy Northam) who seek justice.Broussard, a devout Catholic wanders from one Catholic abbey or monastery to another seeking refuge; he also receives money from yet another group, fellow collaborators, I think. When they find out he's being hunted, no one wants anything to do with him, and he winds up staying with his wife (Charlotte Rampling) who hates him. Then he's on the run again, in ill health and finding it more and more difficult to find people who will help him.Michael Caine is excellent in this role of a frightened, pathetic old man who is constantly praying and wants to die in a state of grace. His patron saint is St. Christopher - I'm not sure when the book this is based on was written, but I thought St. Christopher had been kind of defrocked or something. Wrong saint.Tilda Swinton and Jeremy Northam have supporting roles and not much to do in them. Alan Bates, Ciaran Hinds, and William Hutt are also part of the film. The scenery is beautiful.This movie could have been much better. First of all, it was a little confusing; secondly, there was a lot of talk about this Chevaliers group, but I don't think anyone ever came out and said what they were about. In the end, I felt like it was a superficial telling of this story.Someone here mentioned a newspaper review complained because no one in the film spoke with a French accent. This is mentioned in practically every movie set in another country by someone, but this is the first time I've heard a newspaper reviewer mention it. You don't need an accent; these people are speaking their own language, not English with an accent. How come no one questioned it in Ben Hur? Do theater-goers insist that Chekov be done with a Russian accent and that in A Doll's House the actors use Swedish accents? Is Hamlet performed with Danish accents? Why is this so hard to grasp that a newspaper reviewer would mention it? I'd love to know who they're hiring these days.Anyway, this movie was a lost opportunity by director Norman Jewison. It's just not as good as it could have been.

There were a few concepts that are regularly delivered in thick spreads and contrivances by a cast, with the exception of Michael Caine, who are not up to the complexities of the subject matter. It actually looked like the actors themselves didn't really believe in what they were portraying and at odds internally with the ham handed, prejudicial and unreal aspects of the story ie. universal hypocrisy within the church and among ALL it's members, not an honest catholic to be found, all these people were sniveling hypocrites skulking around relying on the principle of absolution without remorse or recompense, atonement and it got a bit thick at times. There was a way to portray the seamier side of church behaviour and politics but this film didn't get it. It came off like a masturbatory exercise to be indulged by judgmental agnostics and atheists both on and off the screen and made to appeal to popularly held though not necessarily universally correct beliefs about religious organizations. Am not a church goer or a defender of catholicism by any means but this film got lost in popular mythology at the expense of the truth.

I just saw this movie and I don't agree with mostly of the comments I have seen here. Is a very good thriller, with good performance of the cast and fine direction and photography. The sound is really superb and that's why the movie got the prizes. Further comments are out of order. I'll see it again to watch the goof and enjoy the acting. I was wondering if the story is real, many of the collaborators not only in France, but in the occupied countries for sure lived in some way the same experiences more or less. Ten points for the sound, and the photography. For the movie as a good thriller, I will say 7 points.And that's all.

Norman Jewison, he's an sly old fox, you cannot expect him to make an avant- garde/revolutionary movie at this stage, he won't... but his name is synonymous with "quality", and that ain't to be sniffed at."The Statement" is such a good suspense movie about an former french soldier which served in Vichy's army and committed some "crimes against the humanity". 50 years after the WWII is over there are a lot of people who want his head: some are afraid of what he may tell to the authorities, some just want to arrest him. There's sort of a critique of Catholic Church's attitude during the Holocaust (how they turned a blind eye to it), and after it (sheltering some Nazis that had a warrant for arrest).The movie has kind of a classic style, it's been brilliantly filmed and the presence of Michael Caine is nothing but a nice present for all those who love cinema.*My rate: 7/10