If you get it into your head that the great Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky was in fact a boozy Welsh actor, then you might be able to sit through this mess. Otherwise, be prepared for a puzzler --- it's not terrible, it's just incoherent. Director Joseph Losey tosses history to the wind in favor of an underdeveloped story that introduces a lot of characters but doesn't say who they are or why they're in Mexico. Characters just keep meeting in the half ruins of Mexico City. It's beautifully photographed but has a heavily edited feel to it. Many scenes end very abruptly.
As the assassin, Alain Delon pouts a lot and wears sunglasses. Romy Schneider plays a character that was, at least historically, a disillusioned Trotskyite from Brooklyn! Schneider is stunning but not very well utilized here. And for some reason, she shouts every other line. It's never explained why or how she got hooked up with Delon, but it's just as well...the script offers no motivation for any character. As Trotsky, Richard Burton dons a very fake looking van dyke mustache and round glasses and spouts revolutionary thought into a Dictaphone. Classy Valentina Cortese has virtually no lines as Mrs. Trotsky so why she was cast is anyone's guess.
There's probably a truly compelling story to be told about the last days of Trotsky, but this isn't it.
As the assassin, Alain Delon pouts a lot and wears sunglasses. Romy Schneider plays a character that was, at least historically, a disillusioned Trotskyite from Brooklyn! Schneider is stunning but not very well utilized here. And for some reason, she shouts every other line. It's never explained why or how she got hooked up with Delon, but it's just as well...the script offers no motivation for any character. As Trotsky, Richard Burton dons a very fake looking van dyke mustache and round glasses and spouts revolutionary thought into a Dictaphone. Classy Valentina Cortese has virtually no lines as Mrs. Trotsky so why she was cast is anyone's guess.
There's probably a truly compelling story to be told about the last days of Trotsky, but this isn't it.