"Wine is like a man: it can have flaws and still be pleasing."
Bernardo Bertolucci made The Spider's Stratagem (1970) just after completing The Conformist, though it didn't receive a fraction of the acclaim. It's a beautifully shot, somewhat strained allegory of cultural heroism, presented with maximum pretension.Athos Magnani (Giulio Brogi) arrives in the small town of Tara, seeking the truth about his deceased father (also played by Brogi). The senior Magnani was executed by Mussolini's fascists in the late '30s for his role in a foiled assassination plot. But Athos discovers that his father's death wasn't as clear-cut as it seems, and he's menaced by a trio of middle aged men who'd prefer he look no further.
The Spider's Stratagem lists a Jorge Luis Borges story as its provenance, though it equally resembles a baroque Bad Day at Black Rock. Tara jealously guards its past secrets, with Athos facing death threats and Draifa's (Alida Valli) friendlier inducement. Bertolucci and photographer Vittorio Storaro cloak it in claustrophobic touches, framing Athos in a dark blue twilight peering across the way at orange-lit doors, surrounded by hostile, suspicious villagers. Bertolucci blends Verdi tunes (including a full-scale opera) with a dance set to Giovinezza, contrasting Italy's artistic self-image and sordid past.
Other touches seem more strained: a weird interlude involving an escaped lion, a torture scene staged like a bullfight (with Athos sporting a red bandana as cows moo on the soundtrack, for slower viewers). These are the sort of "meaningful" touches that make viewers groan. The allegorical resonance of a lion killed and stuffed, a symbol of heroism betrayed, isn't hard to fathom, but it's so pointedly symbolic it's headache inducing. Similarly, casting the same actor as father and son often makes flashbacks difficult to distinguish from present narrative.
Naturally, Spider ends with the revelation that Athos' "heroic" death was a farce, meticulously rehearsed by Resistance fighters who present him as a hero. It's a moral borrowed from Borges but constantly replayed, in everything from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance to The Simpsons. Athos grows ensnared in his father's story, preferring myth to sordid reality; an enduring cultural malaise no one's willing to penetrate.
Giulio Brogi is an adequate lead as modern Athos, but not overly compelling; he's more engaging as the charismatic, tragicomic Resistance fighter. Alida Valli's coarse, desperate inflections give her enigmatic character an edge. Pippo Campanini's glowering villain, sporting white hat and jacket, is impressively imposing, but the other supporting players are unmemorable.
The Spider's Stratagem comes freighted with the artistry and messaging you'd expect from Bernardo Bertolucci. Compelling in parts, it's too crude to make a lasting impression.
