The 3-Act Paradigm at Work: I Confess

written by George Tabori and William Archibald


I Confess, even though directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is a disappointing movie. Most reviewers give it only two stars. However, it is worth studying because its failure is rooted in structural problems. Sometimes we can learn from poor movies as well as from good.

Structural Analysis

  1. Hook (1 min.)
    • A body is on the floor - someone has been murdered.
  2. Complication (5 min.)
    • Keller confesses to Father Logan that he, in fact, is the murderer.
  3. Call to Action (19 min.)
    • Keller begs Father Logan to tell him what to do. Logan is silent.
  4. Act One Plot Point (28 min.)
    • Children saw a priest leave the murder scene, and Logan is a prime suspect. However, he won't cooperate with the police in any way: "I'm unable to help."
  5. Midpoint Plot Point (59-69 min.)
    • Logan is going to be arrested. He flees, trying to decide what to do. He finally turns himself in (69 min.).
  6. Act Two Plot Point (84 min.)
    • A jury acquits Logan, even though the judge makes it clear he thinks he is guilty. The public turns against Father Logan.
  7. Climax and Resolution (86-94 min.)
    • Keller's wife can't stand to see the hatred shown Logan and rushes forward to tell the truth - but Keller shoots her. Keller runs off with the gun, and Logan tries to talk to him. Keller believes Logan turned him in, although the priest was silent to the end, and shoots himself.

    Notes

    I Confess has two structural flaws: a totally passive and inactive protagonist, so that the turning points are weak; and a long flashback that is mostly exposition, trying to justify why Logan is a suspect.

    With regard to the first problem, if Logan is going to keep his silence, then the writers need to find external ways to express this conflict. As it is, Father Logan just mopes around doing nothing.

    What little action there is comes to a halt during a long flashback in the courtroom scene (48-58 min.), so we can learn of Logan's romantic affair before he became a priest, which supposedly gives him a motive for the murder. Long flashbacks are very tricky. They can work, as in Casablanca, but in order to work there must be considerable momentum built into the present-tense story to keep the audience hanging. This is not the case here.

    The inactive, passive Father Logan is the central problem here. Even keeping his silence about the confession, he needs action, dramatic ways to externalize and show his inner conflict. This is the kind of story that is best told in a novel, where the inner life can be revealed, rather than on the screen, where nothing is happening most of the time.


    MODULE 4: SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting

    [BACK TO TEXT]
    8/98