Movie Review: Absolution (1978) directed by Anthony Page
Father Goddard (Richard Burton) teaches Latin and Doctrine at St. Anthony’s, a Catholic boarding school for boys. A joyless man, Father Goddard is also a form master who oversees the dormitory for one group of the students. Two boys in his form are of special interest. Benjamin “Benjie” Stanfield (Dominic Guard) is bright, athletic and good-looking. Father Goddard thinks he may have the makings of a priest and favors him. Arthur Dyson (David Bradley) has a damaged leg he must wear a brace on, has a tendency to wander off topic in class, and is a suck-up to Benjie. Father Goddard finds him annoying and vaguely unsettling.
Things start heating up when Benjie runs across a drifter called Blakey (Billy Connolly) in the school’s forest. Uncomfortable with his role as the teacher’s pet, Benjie bonds with the banjo-playing vagabond. Father Goddard, quite naturally, does not approve on several levels.
Benjie decides to abuse the seal of the Confessional by claiming that he’s murdered Blakey and buried him in a shallow grave. When Father Goddard checks, he finds only a scarecrow, and is infuriated but can say nothing because confessional seal.
But soon Father Goddard hears another confession, that this time Blakey really is dead. And shortly thereafter, Arthur (who has been getting on Benjie’s nerves) disappears. Is the priest a victim of an extended and cruel practical joke, or is there something even more sinister afoot?
This psychological thriller takes its own sweet time getting to the thriller part. Blakey is not a good person, being a thief and a layabout, but seems harmless enough to Benjie if you don’t count morals. And the early school scenes could easily have been leading to comedy. But there’s a point to how claustrophobic and dreary the school seems, and Father Goddard has clearly spent too much time cooped up there instead of learning about the outside world and adapting to modern times.
To be honest, stretches of the film bored me, but it picks up considerably after the scarecrow incident, and the ending is stunning.
Content note: a couple of shockingly violent scenes, including police brutality. Blakey gives Benjie alcohol, and Benjie is also offered what might be a regular cigarette or a “funny” one. Blakey jokes about Father Goddard possibly wanting to molest boys. (Thankfully, this is not one of Father Goddard’s problems.)
Overall: The movie’s okay, but not worth going out of the way for. Do take a look if you’re a Richard Burton fan.
