The Offence is directed by Sidney Lumet and adapted to screenplay by John Hopkins from his own play titled This Story of Yours. It stars Sean Connery, Ian Bannen, Trevor Howard and Vivien Merchant. Cinematography is by Gerry Fisher and music by Harrison Birtwistle.

Detective Sergeant Johnson (Connery) has been with the British Police Force for two decades, in that time he has been witness to countless murders, rapes and other serious crimes. The images, the people he has had to deal with, have left a terrible mark on him. When suspected child sex attacker Kenneth Baxter (Bannen) comes up for interrogation by Johnson, his mind starts to fracture and he loses control, unleashing a dark side that comes out both physically and mentally.

You wouldn't think it possible for Lumet and Connery to have a hidden gem in their respective career outputs, but The Offence is very much just that. An unnerving skin itcher with an upsetting narrative core, The Offence was a commercial flop. It barely got released across the globe and only found its way onto home format release in the last 10 years. The film only got made after Connery struck a deal with United Artists, he would only return as James Bond for Diamonds Are Forever if they backed him for a couple of projects. One of which was The Offence, so with free licence to play Johnson, and his choice of Lumet in the directing chair, Connery got the film made.

Set with a bleak concrete back drop of a "New Town" (cheaply built monstrosities the government knocked up to ease the housing issues),The Offence is a fascinating blend of police procedural and psychological drama. It poses many questions, and thrives on ambiguity to the point repeat viewings are a must, but in the main what shrieks out is the thematic point of one mans harrowing employment taking its toll on he himself. Is it possible that you can only chase and be amongst monsters yourself for so long before you become one of that number? It's invariably hard to recommend the film as high entertainment, a comfy night in by the fire this film is not. But as film art, a searing character study and acting supreme, it scores impressively high whilst tantalisingly tickling the cranium.

It's fair to say it's very dialogue heavy, and Lumet as polished a director as he is, keeps it grainy, revelling in the bleakness of the story. Connery has never been better, utterly compelling, a brooding force of nature and as committed to role as he has ever been. Nor, too, arguably, has Bannen, the scenes shared between the two men are lessons in acting as they portray two warped minds bouncing off each with an unsettling force that grips us round the throat and refuses to let go long after the credits have rolled. Howard steps in to add a touch of mature quality, he too bringing the best out of Connery in the scenes they share, while Merchant as Johnson's "on the outside" wife, is raw and heartfelt.

You can't pigeon hole The Offence, it's very much one of a kind and it demands to be tracked down by serious film fans. From the low key score and foreboding 70s setting, to the gripper of a denouement, The Offence is an essential piece of British cinema. 9.5/10

The Offence is regarded as a favourite of Sean Connery but hardly anyone saw it on its cinema release. It did find an audience on television where it was regularly repeated.

The film was made by American directing legend, Sidney Lumet. Yet the film is set in a new town outside of London.

It is an urban environment that is very British, more at home to an episode of the TV series The Bill and not likely to be made by the person who did 'Dog Day Afternoon' or '12 Angry Men.'

This town is under siege. There is a child attacker and parents are worried and the police are out in force protecting the streets.

Connery is a detective on the edge of sanity. He has seen a lot of horror in his work and it has got too him. His home life is a wreck and he has found the body of one of the girl's that was attacked but she is still alive.

When the police arrest a drunken suspect (Ian Bannen.) Connery thinks he has found the right man and interrogates him, brutally if necessary.

Connery who brought an animal swagger to his James Bond and was a former bodybuilder, hulks over Bannen in the police room scenes.

Yet there is a lot of psychological cat and mouse games between Bannen and Connery. Bannen is a little man who has always been bullied throughout his life by men like Connery. Somehow he came through such bullies and made a success of his life.

When the red mist gets the better of Connery, Bannen dies in custody. We never find out if he was the actual culprit although I always regarded Bannen as innocent. The wrong man at the wrong place.

We then see Connery getting interrogated by a superior office (Trevor Howard) and it is in these scenes we realise how out of control Connery is as we see the flashbacks.

The film is terrifically acted by Bannen and Connery. The film with its early 70s, British urban setting and a host of familiar British character actors gives it a unique as well as now a historic look.

It is still uncomfortable viewing but the film deserves your time.

Not one of my favourite Sidney Lumet movies, but then he did do a lot of good ones. This one's based on a stage play and centres around an interview between tough detective Sean Connery and child molester suspect Ian Bannen. The subject matter is darker than dark and the psychological angle gets increasingly engrossing as the running time progresses. I wasn't a fan of the fragmented approach at first, but once Trevor Howard comes into it the film's on fire.