THE SPIDER'S STRATAGEM

Athos Magnani arrives by train alone in Tara, where his father’s old mistress has asked him to come and find out the truth about his father’s murder years ago. Even though Athos never knew his father, who died before he was born, they share the same name and have a remarkable resemblance. Hence the confusion of the town’s inhabitants, who continue to celebrate the legacy of their local anti-fascist hero. As Athos proceeds with his investigation, including conflicting testimony of the deceased’s friends and enemies, it becomes clear that the official version is hiding something. 

Visualizing three and a half pages of Jorge Luis Borges, Bernardo Bertolucci perversely fills the blanks with more blanks, erecting his labyrinth on blackouts, abrupt cuts and temporal shifts. Originally made for Italian television and premiering shortly before THE CONFORMIST debuted in theaters, the pointedly analytical and lushly abstruse THE SPIDER’S STRATAGEM is a film of doubles, phantoms, revolt as feisty foxtrot and history as coup de théâtre.