The book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die is a fantastic way of finding films that I would otherwise never had known about that could be great viewing, this Italian film is another one I hoped would deserve its placement, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci (The Conformist, 1900, Last Tango in Paris, The Last Emperor). Basically young researcher Athos Magnani (Giulio Brogi) returns to his ancestral home in Tara, at the request of his father's mistress Draifa (Alida Valli). His father, also named Athos Magnani (also Brogi), was killed before his birth, he is remembered as a resistance hero. Draifa, the statue in the square, and everyone in the town say he was killed by unknown fascists in 1936, Athos is met with evasion or hostility when he makes enquiries. Then three old acquaintances of his father tell Athos that his father attempted a failed plot to blow up Benito Mussolini in the town theatre, the assassin died after being betrayed to the police, but young Athos does not believe this tale either. Unsure whether to stay in this claustrophobic town where the truth is never told, Athos goes to the theatre, he is told that his father failed to go through with the bombing out of fear and tipped off the police himself. For this his associates killed him, with his agreement, and apparently a fortune teller had predicted his death days before. At a ceremony in front of his father's statue, Athos starts to tell this story, but despite knowing that his father became a hero through cowardice and betrayal, he decides that the town needs its myth. Athos goes to the railway station, where are announcements of increasingly trains, he looks ahead to see rusted and overgrown tracks, he finds himself tangled in the same web. Also starring Tino Scotti as Costa, Pippo Campanini as Gaibazzi, Franco Giovanelli as Rasori and Allen Midgett as Sailor. It is a simple, a young man who wants to gain more knowledge of his father's assassination, only for his legend to be shattered by the truth, it is a fascinating psychological journey, with great camerawork, locations and cultural references, a worthwhile drama. Good!
Review of The Spider's Stratagem
