SpuffyWeb
Sadly Over-hyped
Ogosmith
Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
Sameer Callahan
It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
Zandra
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
SnoopyStyle
Anton Ludvik aka Gerard (Yves Montand) is the vice-minister of Foreign Affairs of Czechoslovakia. He is worried that he's being followed. Other officials are being picked up in a purge. He gets picked up by a dark militaristic organization. His family is harassed. His wife Londonova (Simone Signoret) struggles in her new circumstances. He is psychologically tortured to give false confessions.This is basically two hours of movie confinement with his jailers doing all kinds of psychological warfare. At times, I feel like being tortured myself. There's good and bad in that. It doesn't make for a pleasant or necessarily a compelling viewing experience. It's more of a compelling academic exercise. This is the cinematic equivalent of stress position. The acting is impeccable and the production is first rate. It's Kafkaesque and a cry against totalitarianism.
RanchoTuVu
I got dragged into this movie like the protagonist got dragged into the brutal, endless interrogation. Given the overall vapidity of most of today's films, this is a real diversion into the power that really lies beneath the surface of movies, the acting, the writing, directing, and most important the mood. The mood of this film drags you like it does the character played by Yves Montand, as he endures a two year interrogation by the people's republic. It's real historic as well, full of details about Titoists, Trotskyites, and anarchists and paranoia over the struggle to control the communist revolution. But Montand looks great as he endures an impressive variety of interrogation techniques.
JasparLamarCrabb
Costa-Gavras's inflammatory masterpiece (and followup to the wildly successful Z) focuses on the plight of Artur London, the Czech diplomat dragged into the Slánský trial in 1951. He's accused of being unfaithful to the communist party (a Trotskyite!) and put through a grueling round of interrogation as faceless government goons try to exact a non-existent confession. As "A.L.," Yves Montand gives a gutsy performance, never giving in and managing to maintain his dignity. When all else fails, the government sends in cunning interrogator Gabriele Ferzetti, who finally gets Montand to crack. Their ironic final meeting is chilling. Simone Signoret plays Montand's highly practical wife. Jorge Semprún wrote the bare bones script and the stunning cinematography is by Raoul Coutard.
Sergio Viscovich
I saw that movie many years ago in Germany. Later I saw again the movie in TV in Movies in Time. Since then I am looking all over the internet in order to buy it but it is not possible to find where to buy it. It looks to me that it is a shame that such a good movie disappears and nobody else can see the farce of communism and how these regimes lie to the entire world. If somebody knows where I can buy this movie please e-mail to me. Thanks Sergio. Artur London begin his Book: to my companions of misfortune who where executed although innocent or who died in prison. To all the innocent victims of the trials. To all those friends,known or unknown, who fought and who gave their lives in the hope of achieving a better world. To all those who carry on the struggle to restore humanity to socialism.
