We find ourselves in a luxurious hotel somewhere in Europe. We follow a Catholic monk, Roberto Salus (the marvellous Toni Servillo from the glorious La Grande Bellezza) who has been invited to attend a meeting there. Neither we nor he knows the reason why. Famous people start arriving in the hotel including a best-selling British author [Connie Nielsen (The Gladiator (2000))] and a well-known musician. We soon find out that they are all invited by Daniel Roché (Daniel Auteuil (Caché (2005))], the Director of the International Monerary Fund as a G8 meeting is about to take place in the hotel.
The European Ministers are there to discuss a rather serious matter which will affect the fate of all the poor countries that are facing an economic crisis, and by the look of it the desicion is not at all humane. The Italian monk, however, has been invited for another reason: the Director of the IMF wants to make a confession and has chosen this particular man to confess to as he is a published author whose books Roché has read. It all seems normal until the morning after the confession when the Secret Service Agents find Roché dead. Was it a murder? Is the monk the killer as he was the last known person to interact with the director? Or was it a suicide? But in this case, what dark secret, that has been revealed to the monk, was the reason behind it?
From then on, Le Confessioni transforms into a detective thriller. People try to find out the truth before it gets out to the press. The agents want to solve the crime. The Ministers are afraid that an important detail from their economic plan has been divulged to the monk, something that would be catastrophic were he to give it away outside the G8 meeting. Simultaneously, some approach Roberto Salus and because of his serene presence, they feel comfortable to confess their own thoughts and doubts about their job, thus the title of the film.
Using a very likable protagonist who the audience roots for, not only concerning the aforementioned crime but also because he is an outsider in the dirty world of politics and financial interests, Roberto Andó, director of Viva la Libertá (2013) and Sotto Falso Nome (2004) has created a quite intriguing thriller that keeps you at the edge of your seat, up until the end, despite its somewhat flat depiction of rather important matters. It is a shame that at the end of the movie, some questions are -perhaps knowingly- left unanswered and other significant issues are neglected because were it not for that negligence Le Confessioni -this Italian yet multilingual film- would have been a classic gem.
Le Confessioni was shown on October 1st, as part of AIFF's Italian Film Nights section.
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