There several different films nested within Italian director Roberto Andò’s droll thriller The Confessions, among then an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery, a caustic critique of neoliberal economics, and a work of Catholic apologia. The film that Andò ultimately favors is a dry, absurdist comedy about the pretensions and narcissism of global elites. The tone is set by the first glimpse of Roberto (Toni Servillo), a Carthusian monk who arrives at a German airport wearing his simple white habit and an expression pitched midway between quizzical, concerned, and bemused.
Roberto is one of the incongruous lay people—including juvenile lit author Claire (Connie Nielsen)—who have been invited to observe a G8 summit. Roberto, a writer on Catholic ethics, is the guest of International Monetary Fund chief Roché (Daniel Auteuil), who on the first night of the summit asks the monk to hear his confession. The next morning, Roché is discovered murdered, perhaps by his own hand or another’s. The assembled central bankers improbably choose to continue with the summit, as a major vote on global austerity is up for consideration. They soon discover that Roché told Roberto something momentous, but the monk refuses to break the sanctity of confession.
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Andò and co-writer Angelo Pasquini present this scenario as an eddy of repetitive, vaguely ludicrous conversations, with Roberto continually cornered by bankers seeking to interrogate him and unburden themselves. Claire is determined to be his strategic ally, but Roberto only seems to want peace and quiet. Servillo is the clear star here, his affable and expectant expressions conveying the faint pity and exasperation with which the film regards the economists. Although The Confessions ends up leaning too heavily on its moralizing criticisms of capital, there is an undeniable pleasure in watching the titans of finance unravel over one humble priest’s genial stubbornness.
The Confessions screens Saturday, November 12 at 12:15 p.m. and Sunday, November 13 at 4:45 p.m. Both screenings are at the Landmark Plaza Frontenac Cinema. For tickets and additional information, visit the Cinema St. Louis website.
