Great Britain

• The Terrorists

Given a story that is consistently topical, Ransom could hardly fail to be a gripping suspense thriller. Thanks to a taut script by Paul Wheeler and economical and unobtrusively accurate direction by Casper Wrede, however, this 1974 feature manages to combine a cool documentary approach with a powerful impact. Wrede and his cinematographer, the brilliant Sven Nykvist, make the most of the excellent Scandinavian locations, adding an atmosphere of verisimilitude to the proceedings so that the movie grips from the beginning and never relaxes that grip. Robert Harris plays an ailing British ambassador in Scandinavia who is kidnapped by terrorist Martin Shepherd (John Quentin). The 'ransom' demanded is the release of six of his associates from a British prison - and an aircraft to take both them and their prisoner to an undisclosed dropping zone. But the head of the Norwegian National Security, Nils Tahlvik (Sean Connery) is against meeting the terrorists' demands since he believes that by setting a precedent, the way will be left open for further terrorist activities in the country. Tahlvik's stand puts him in conflict with his superiors. And things become further complicated when an aircraft is hijacked as it approaches a nearby airfield and the four gunmen who perpetrate the crime threaten to destroy the plane and its passengers if Shepherd is prevented from boarding it when it lands. Wrede never allows the complexities of the script to obscure his narrative drive and the result is a highly satisfying suspense film that manages ti put over its strong moral viewpoint without ever appearing to resort simply to preaching. Connery, abandoning his usual 007 image, gives a astrong performance which dominates the movie but does not obscure the expert playing of the rest of the carefully chosen cast; in particular Ian McShane and Paul Maxwell. Ransom is a thriller to be savoured. ALAN FRANK