Trevor Howard is a policeman who tries to get to "The Heart of the Matter" in this 1953 film based on the Graham Greene novel. It also stars Elizabeth Allan and Maria Schell. Howard plays Harry Scobie, a police officer in Sierra Leone. He and his wife have lost their young daughter, and now his wife is miserable in Sierra Leone. In order to get money for a trip for her, Scobie borrows money from an unsavory character - later on, this will lead to problems for him with his superiors. He meets a stranded widow, Helen (Schell), and the two fall in love. When his wife returns, he is faced with a religious dilemma. She is told he has been fooling around. She wants him to go to church with her and take Communion - meaning, of course, that he would have confessed his adulterous sin to the local priest. In fact, the priest comes to the house. The priest cannot accept his confession, because Scobie doesn't believe he can stop seeing Helen. In order to hide this from his wife, he commits the mortal sin of going to communion not in the state of grace.
Stripped down to the religious elements of this film, "The Heart of the Matter" doesn't sound like much. But it has a very high resonance if you're Catholic, suicide is the unforgivable sin, you can't go to communion unless you've been to confession, etc.
Trevor Howard gives a very profound performance as a man who has lost everything except his religion and who describes hell as eternal wanting. As a man who lost sight long ago of what he wants, he lives in a private hell that the surrounding locations only emphasize.
A slow, pessimistic film, a great performance, well worth seeing if you're on antidepressants.
Stripped down to the religious elements of this film, "The Heart of the Matter" doesn't sound like much. But it has a very high resonance if you're Catholic, suicide is the unforgivable sin, you can't go to communion unless you've been to confession, etc.
Trevor Howard gives a very profound performance as a man who has lost everything except his religion and who describes hell as eternal wanting. As a man who lost sight long ago of what he wants, he lives in a private hell that the surrounding locations only emphasize.
A slow, pessimistic film, a great performance, well worth seeing if you're on antidepressants.