Based on a story by Jorge Luis Borges, Strategia Del Ragno The Spider's Stratagem) is a mysterious drama about a young man, Athos Magnani, Jr. Who returns to the small Italian town of Tara where his father had been murdered thirty years previously. There he runs into a gallery of old eccentrics and becomes acquainted with Draifa, his father's ageing mistress (Alida Valli). The rest of the film concerns his interactions with the three suspects who may have had a hand in murdering his father.
A great patriot, his father was the chief architect in a plot to assassinate Benito Mussolini during his visit to the town. But the circumstances of his death are shrouded in mystery. He was shot and killed during a theatrical performance in a playhouse. But who among the three living conspirators pulled the trigger? As the movie progresses it emerges that there are other factors at play and the question arises whether his father was really the great hero he was made out to be.
One of Bernardo Bertolucci's lesser known gems, this wonderful film makes superb use of the rolling Italian countryside. The performances are excellent especially Alida Valli as the slightly neurotic mistress and Gulio Brogi as Athos Magnani Jr. Searching for his father's killer. The movie is superbly photographed by the great Vittorio Storaro.
A great patriot, his father was the chief architect in a plot to assassinate Benito Mussolini during his visit to the town. But the circumstances of his death are shrouded in mystery. He was shot and killed during a theatrical performance in a playhouse. But who among the three living conspirators pulled the trigger? As the movie progresses it emerges that there are other factors at play and the question arises whether his father was really the great hero he was made out to be.
One of Bernardo Bertolucci's lesser known gems, this wonderful film makes superb use of the rolling Italian countryside. The performances are excellent especially Alida Valli as the slightly neurotic mistress and Gulio Brogi as Athos Magnani Jr. Searching for his father's killer. The movie is superbly photographed by the great Vittorio Storaro.