It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

All films are inherently impossible, but this impossible story is so far-fetched and unconvincing it might work better if it were set in another universe. A totally unrealistic moral and intellectual conundrum involving sin, guilt, and atonement, as well as life and death, in many ways typical of Greene at his worst. The 5 stars are for the acting, which is competent, even skilled, but the writing is not good. Perhaps I should dock more stars, but I suppose the questions are mentally and philosophically engaging. The actors do their best with the story, which really is fantastic. Greene wrote it in 1944, and then forgot about it for 40 years, until the early 1980s. And I'm frankly not surprised. Its first appearance in book form seems to have been in 1985, and the TV film appeared in 1988.It gives an impression of being vaguely based on the crucifixion story, with Chavel, one man (of three) buying his life by giving another, named Mangeot, all his property and allowing him to take his place for execution, thereby incidentally redeeming the (non-existent) sins of the remaining Frenchmen, both in and out of prison. The Germans represent the Romans in this scenario. The imagery is picked up visually by having the three execution posts arranged to resemble crucifixion sites. You expect the three prisoners fated for death to arrive carrying their crosses. An additional philosophical implication is that since we are all going to die, does it matter when ? Or was the sacrificial lamb about to die soon anyway ? I thought he had a nasty cough.Most of the other reviewers seem quite willing to disregard the enormous plot holes, although at least one notices that the Germans were shooting prisoners after two days, but Hopkins/Chavel makes it through three years. Go figure. After that, every plot objection is covered by some convenient special circumstance. The mother of the sacrificed boy thinks he earned and has bought the property that she and her daughter Therese have been given, and is unaware of the way he died. There seem to be no photographs of Chavel in the house, beyond the age of about ten. Nobody anywhere recognises him behind his beard.In the end, the mother dies, and Chavel is pointlessly shot dead by a murdering impostor, thereby atoning for his shabby behaviour. I give up, but it is definitely hard on Therese, the sister, who has done nothing wrong at all. She is surrounded by her dead mother, her dead brother and her dead would-be lover. Still, she ends up with the château, the land and the cash. The Third Man is a long way better than this.

I found this one on Netflix streaming movies. I like all of the actors here, and found this to be a nice story.It is the 1940s and France is occupied by Nazi Germans. Anthony Hopkins, about 50 during filming, is French lawyer Jean Louis Chavel. He lives in a stately home outside the village of St Jean du Brinac, and has an office in town. He is known and respected by many townspeople. One day his fate turns as he walks back to his office after lunch. the Nazis are gathering up men, they need ten but only have nine, until they spot Chavel attempting to make himself invisible in a recessed doorway. They unceremoniously take him, in spite of his protestations, and throw all of them in prison, for no reason. But the shock really arrives when the guard tells the roughly 30 total men, they will shoot and kill one of every ten the next morning at 7AM, three total. And he further suggests that this time he will let them pick among themselves which 3.To quickly state the result, which gets us to the main of the story, Chavel by blind lottery is one of the 3 chosen to die the next morning, but he bargains with a sickly man, who has a sister and mother he wants to take care of. So the bargain is this, if Chavel will write a gift contract to give a sum of money plus his house and land to his sister and mother equally, and have it witnessed by two prisoners, he will die in the place of Chavel. The contract is given to a disinterested party to deliver. Kristin Scott Thomas, who was about 27 during filming, is the sister, Therese Mangeot . One day, three years later, he shows up at his former house, looking for a meal, but not identifying himself correctly. He correctly figured she would not be happy to meet him, responsible for her brother's death. So as a "friend" of her brother's he stays and agrees to do some work around the estate in exchange for food, lodging, and a small salary.All is running well, and the two are starting to take a fancy for each other, until another man shows up, claiming to be Chavel. Derek Jacobi is The Imposter . This upsets everything, and the real Chavel has several new challenges to figure out.All in all a very nice movie.SPOILERS: Eventually the real Chavel has to expose the imposter, but this leads to an altercation, the imposter has a small handgun, he shoots, and Chavel is mortally wounded. He bought a new life while in prison but his fate was only postponed for a short time.

A WWII dark story by Graham Greene (who also wrote the Third Man).A prisoner makes a deal with another prisoner to save himself from being executed they swap places in exchange for everything the one owns including a secluded mansion.I won't spoil the story or bore you (if you have seen it) with more of the plot.It is well done...the acting good...the screen adaptation of the book not ponderous like they sometimes are trying to cram too much in.Anthony Hopkins like Anthony Perkins before him was type caste by one horror role. This younger version of him makes it easier to forget.A good watch. RECOMMEND.

I was surprised at how gripping this story turned out to be. I've never been that fond of Graham Greene. Somebody commits a sin, mopes around feeling gloomy, and it all ends unpleasantly. That happens here, too, but the plot is lifted out of the ordinary by the simplicity of the story and the splendid acting.Anthony Hopkins commits a sin -- I guess. It's a sin I would have jumped to commit myself. He's one of about two dozen prisoners in a Nazi cell in France, three of whom must be chosen by lot for execution. Hopkins draws one of the three X's. He's scared witless and offers his estate, lands, money, and all other properties to anyone who will take his place. A young man accepts the offer in the name of his sister, Kristin Scott Thomas, and their mother -- two poor people living near Paris -- then goes to his death.After his release, Hopkins wanders around and, with no particular place to go, winds up at his old estate, now dilapidated. Thomas and her moribund mother live there. They reluctantly invite him in and he winds up being the caretaker.The problem is that Thomas knows all about the transfer of the estate and she hates Hopkins real character for buying his own life at the expense of her brother's. She has a pistol stashed away, hoping he'll show up so she can shoot him. Hopkins tells her nothing of his real identity, only claiming to have been in the same prison with Kristin's brother and having witnessed the transfer.The old lady is bitter but in a very human way. Hopkins finds himself enjoying his new role in his old home. And Thomas gradually warms towards him -- still ignorant of who is really is. The mansion and its grounds begin to take on a more respectable appearance.So far, so expectable. But then an impostor, Derek Jacobi, shows up claiming to be the original Hopkins. In reality, he's a nobody, thoroughly evil -- a collaborator, murderer, and accomplished liar. He invents all sorts of stories to glorify himself and to undermine Hopkins' status in the household and in Thomas's eyes.I don't think I'll give away too much more of the plot. The man incapable of feeling guilt squares off against the man dying from a surfeit of it. Let's say that Hopkins does his penance and it's more demanding than one Our Father and Ten Hail Marys.Hopkins gives one of his most striking performances. Not nearly as splashy as "The Silence of the Lambs" but at least as effective. He rarely does what we'd expect from a more routine enactment of his roles. I'll give one example. He and Thomas are alone in the kitchen of the big run-down estate, and she has just discovered one of Hopkins' lies -- a little one -- and she accuses him. Hopkins stares quietly back for a second, then drops his face and brings his fist to his mouth to gnaw a bit at his knuckle or fingernail, just like a man jostling along in a crowded subway might do in a state of mild distraction. Absolutely without bravura, and yet perfectly apt.Derek Jacobi looks right for the part of the very villainous heavy, in that his appearance is bland and his manner tentative except when it slides into deliberate slime. Nice job.Kristin Scott Thomas is a fine actress but she may not belong in the part of a superstitious working-class peasant. She's neatly groomed. Her cool blue eyes glow with intelligence. And her features are clean and even. She has the face of one of those exceptionally efficient nurses who know everything that's going on in the ward. I can't imagine her fingernails ever having been dirty.All around, a memorable job by everyone concerned.