Plot Details: This opinion reveals everything about the movie's plot.
I love this film – Bertolucci's The Spider's Stratagem (La Strategia del Ragno in the original Italian)! I watched it not once, but twice, in the last twenty-four hours. Admittedly, it's not going to be everybody's cup of tea. This is a challenging and cerebral film, though also visually pleasing. It's a kind of mystery film with multiple twists and complex subtext. Quite honestly, it looks to me from the ten or so reviews I've read for the film that very few viewers are "getting" the final twist. They get as far as the penultimate twist and leave thinking that was it. Since my review of this film contradicts what nearly every other review on the internet has to say about the film, I've felt it necessary to be particularly thorough in providing textual evidence in support of my analysis. I apologize to those who prefer shorter reviews.
Historical Background: Bernardo Bertolucci, born in 1941 in Parma, Italy, quit his studies in modern literature at the University of Rome to take up an opportunity to work as assistant director on Pasolini's debut film, Accattone! (1961). A year later, he began making films on his own and soon established a personal style that emphasized romance, psychological crisis, psychological doubles, and the music of Verdi. From a technical vantage point, his films feature fluid camera movement, quick, rhythmic editing, and careful attention to mise-en-scène. One of Bertolucci's influences was Godard and the critic Pauline Kael claimed that Bertolucci was the only Godard-influenced director to give Godard's precepts a distinctively new expression. Bertolucci rejected Godard's commitment to making films for a small elite audience, hoping, instead, to reach a larger audience without sacrificing artistic integrity. Bertolucci's first major success came with Before the Revolution (1964). In the seventies, he directed a series of strong films, beginning with The Spider's Stratagem (1970), followed by The Conformist (1971), Last Tango in Paris (1972), and the epic 1900 (1977). The Spider's Stratagem was based on a short story – a very short story, in fact (only about four pages) – probably the least substantial source material ever adapted into a full-length, feature film! The story in question, really no more than a plot outline, was Jose Luis Borges' "Theme of the Traitor and Hero." Bertolucci transposed the story from 19th century Ireland to 20th century Italy and fleshed it out.
The Story: It is 1970 in Italy. A man in his thirties, Athos Magnani (Giulio Brogi), arrives by train in the small town of Tara, where he was conceived in 1936 and where his long-deceased father, also Athos Magnani, remains the town's most venerated hero. Only a solitary sailor disembarks from the train at the same station. Athos walks slowly into town, finding a rather desolate village, with narrow streets lined by architecturally forbidding dwellings. The name of the main street is "Via Athos Magnani." The square in the center of town is also named after his father. A statue of his father overlooks the square and the inscription beneath reveals, "Athos Magnani. Hero. Vilely murdered by Fascist bullets." We notice immediately that Athos Jr. is a dead-ringer for his father.
The young Athos was urged to pay the town a visit by his father's former mistress, Draifa (Alida Valli). She had spotted a picture of the young man in a newspaper, quite by chance, and immediately noticed the resemblance to her former lover. Athos asks two old geezers standing on the boardwalk for directions to the hotel, but the two can't agree on which way he should go, getting into a protracted argument. The hotel owner is startled when Athos signs the register with the name of the town's hero, but then notices that the young Athos looks "identical" to his father.
Athos borrows a bicycle to ride to Draifa's residence. Draifa is an attractive middle-aged woman, though something of a vamp as well as vampire-like in appearance. She is obviously affected by seeing a man looking exactly as her former lover looked at the time of his death. Draifa tells Athos that his father was a great anti-Fascist leader and was murdered in the theater during a performance of Rigoletto. Athos learns that his father had his palm read a few days before his assassination and the palm-reader had predicted his death. "Like Macbeth, the witches prophecy," says Athos. The father had also received an anonymous letter from a man dressed in black, riding a motorcycle, just before entering the theater. After he was killed, the carabinieri (local police) had found the letter, still sealed. It said, "If you enter the theater, you will die." "Like Julius Caesar," says Athos Jr.. The murderer was never identified and Draifa hopes that Athos will discover the truth. Athos is not especially interested and contemplates leaving on the next train. Draifa then faints, causing Athos to relent. He decides to stay for a while to see what he can learn. Draifa informs him that his father's foremost enemy, Beccaccia, the biggest landowner around, is his only enemy from the old days still alive. Athos Sr.'s three best friends still live in town: Gaibazzi, Resori, and Costa.
The next day begins badly for young Athos. After drinking too much with the old geezers in the local bar the previous evening, he had been locked in a stable for the night. Then, after returning to his hotel room, he had been rousted out of bed by a knock on his door and a sucker punch. Returning to Draifa's residence, he complains, "This is a town of madmen and old men and old madmen." Draifa relates a story to him concerning Athos Sr. with his friends, to illustrate the father's great sense of humor. Out late one night, he had undertaken to prove that it was dawn already. By imitating a crowing rooster, he had started the rest of the local roosters crowing, proving his point. As Draifa tells her story, viewers see it enacted as a "memory-segment" rather than a true flashback, since the characters other than Athos are their current age rather than their ages in 1936.
Later, Athos Jr. sets off to pay a call on Beccaccia, who lives on a large estate. Athos gets thrown out by the hired help and sent packing. Outside the estate, Gaibazzi (Pippo Campanini) is waiting to greet him, driving a very small car. Gaibazzi, who is a pig-rump salami taster with an ocular twitch, invites Athos for lunch and conversation. Gaibazzi is full of praise for Athos Sr. "He was always with us because although we were three donkeys (and you'll see the other two), we were the only ones who tried to understand that extraordinary man." He continues, "We fancied conspiracies, but we understood nothing, absolutely nothing! Your father was something else, he was different. Knew what he . . . ," then trailing off. "One night he was playing cards at the café, they grabbed him, took him out and beat him up. Sickening!" Gaibazzi fills his guest up with salami as they talk.
Gaibazzi then relates a scene – one of the highlights of the film – again depicted as a memory segment. They had all gone to an outdoor dance event together, Athos wearing a sand-colored English desert jacket and a red handkerchief. The brownshirts, spotting their opposition, had ordered the band to play the Fascist anthem to provoke Athos Sr. The dancing had stopped and everyone was looking at Athos to see how he'd respond. He walked over to a pretty girl sitting on the rail of the gazebo and began waltzing gracefully with her, mocking the anthem and deftly defusing the situation without giving ground. His triumph ended abruptly, however, when news suddenly arrived that Il Duce would be visiting Tara.
Young Athos next goes to visit Rasori (Franco Giovanelli), a schoolteacher. There he is offered a big bowl of stew, despite already being stuffed with Salami. Rasori insists he'll be insulted if Athos doesn't eat. Rasori tells Athos that his father had insisted, "We must kill him," as soon as he heard the news that Il Duce would be visiting Tara.
Next, Athos Jr. visits Costa (Tino Scotti), who has a mustache and owns an open-air theater. Costa inquires, "Are you sure you've eaten; don't be shy?" Costa adds a bit to the story of Athos Sr. "We thought it out together. We used to meet in a shanty, in fact, in an old abandoned truck." We watch the meeting enacted in Costa's memory. They discuss shooting Il Duce from the audience, the balcony, or the stage. The three "donkeys," Gaibazzi, Rasori, and Costa, do most of the talking, despite not having one full deck of cards between them, while Magnani listens intently. We'll shoot him during, "Ah, la maledizione! At the end of the act, when Rigoletto sings," one suggests. Magnani finally chips in, suggesting a rifle shot will be too undependable. They'll use a bomb, at midnight, during the applause. The three buffoons start gesticulating and exclaiming, "Boom, ka-boom, boom!" We wonder how this bunch of bozos can possibly hope to assassinate a head of state.
Athos encounters Draifa in town and walks her home on his arm. A couple of issues are beginning to gnaw away at the young Athos, as he tries to understand his father's death. His father was killed in the theater during Rigoletto, just as he and his three friends had discussed as a scenario for killing Il Duce. That's quite a coincidence! Only four people knew about the plan for killing Il Duce and one was his father. Furthermore, Athos notices some peculiar commonality of details among the stories provided by the three friends, which is typical when a group of conspirators prepares "a story." Later he comments to Draifa, "Those three knew I was coming and had already met and agreed on what to tell me." Even so, he is convinced that what they told him was the truth – as far as it went. Athos complains, "Here, you decide something and discover it's already foreseen by others." While visiting with Draifa, Athos wrenches his back and she wraps his torso up in a large bandage – reminiscent of a spider rolling a victim in silk. Draifa relates how she wanted Athos Sr. for herself. She had said to him, "I want a normal New Year's eve, not at 11:00 because at 12:00 you must be with your wife." "You're hard on me," he had responded, "Things will change, you'll see." That had been the last time she had seen him alive.
After a stroll together, Draifa tells Athos to wait on the veranda. A child of uncertain gender brings him a drink, saying, "The Segnora says drink it all." He does and promptly passes out. Draifa appears and loosens his shoes, belt, and collar and lights some incense. As he sleeps, he dreams that his father, three friends, and Beccaccia have gathered at the table on the veranda. The three friends complain about having to drink with Beccaccia, while sharing an old story about one of Beccaccia's tenants, Domino, who, during a blackout, had defecated in an alley and was caught by the carabinieri. "Here I did it and here it stays," Domino had stated firmly. "Half to Il Duce and half to his pals." They share another story about a lion that escaped from the German circus – a young handsome lion. The thing had come down with a fever and died. It's head had been put on a platter with an apple in its jaw like a roast pig. We see Athos Sr. staring at this image of the lion, perhaps anticipating his own possible fate at the hands of the Fascist ruffians. Athos Jr. awakens and vows that tonight that trio of "friends" must admit the truth.
Athos returns to the hotel and is briefly set upon by a mob of thugs, who frighten him but then allow him to escape. The next morning, Athos the younger receives a message from his father's old enemy, Beccaccia, to meet him at the theater. Beccaccia warns Athos, "Last night my friends were only joking," but that if he persists in stirring up old conflicts, he'll be run out of town or worse. Beccaccia admits to having despised the senior Athos but denies having killed him. Outside, Gaibazzi is once again waiting for Athos in his little car.
Gaibazzi is intent on driving Athos to the shanty, near the Po River. Athos feels sick to his stomach and wants out, but Gaibazzi refuses to stop. Athos vomits out the window. Arriving at the Shanti, Athos is frightened by Costa and Rasori, who are pounding on the old truck with pipes. He darts away into the woods, running as fast as he can. Through quick, parallel edits, we see Athos running through the woods, then his father running through the same woods thirty-four years earlier, back and forth until the two virtually merge into one image.
Athos Jr. reaches Draifa's place and is greeted by the androgynous child, who says, "Draifa sleeps a bit only in the morning" (another arachnid characteristic). "What are you doing?" Athos asks the child. "Painting my nails." "What kind of a boy are you?" Athos wonders. The child removes a hat to reveal that she is, in fact, a girl. Things aren't always what they appear to be in Tara. When Draifa appears, Athos learns that she had not been in town the night his father was killed. He had sent her away. Athos realizes that his father must have anticipated being killed that night. He speculates, "It was one of them. The three of them. My father discovered them and, out of fear, they killed him." Draifa, imagining that the discovery of the killer is close at hand, says, "Our vengeance will be crueler. By means of looks, words half-whispered, we'll build a void around him [the guilty one], an inferno." Draifa tries to prevent Athos from leaving, wrapping her arms around him spider-like, offering him the companionship of a nineteen-year-old girl as inducement, if only he'll stay. "You're back now and can't go away." He flees.
Athos paces at the train station a bit but returns once again along Via Athos Magnani to the town square. A crowd has gathered in the square and the sounds of Rigoletto are emanating from the theater. A group of decrepit men and woman are sitting in a cart in the square, sharing bits and pieces of the Athos Magnani legend. "They shot him in the darkness of the theater." "The motorcyclist was dressed in black." "Athos took the letter and put it in his pocket," says another. Athos visualizes his father in his box in the theater and his three friends opposite, getting up one by one, coming around to his father's box as the opera was nearing the end of Act I. His father had died facing the audience and hadn't even turned around when his attackers entered, despite having a mirror in the box. He must have known he was going to be killed! He must have agreed to be killed!
Gaibazzi acknowledges it is so. "He wanted to be killed because he had betrayed us." He describes how his father was a spy and had exposed the bomb plot, not to the Fascists but to the carabinieri. He had called them anonymously and told them about the shanty and where to look for the bomb. They had asked him why he had become a spy, but he would not reply. Knowing that they would kill him for the betrayal, Magnani had merely asked for one last request: to be taken to a high place overlooking Tara. There, he had suggested an alternative punishment. "Listen, for Tara, for this whole region . . . . my name has the sound of rebellion, courage. If they learn about my betrayal, all our work will be rendered useless. It's more useful to have a hero. I shall be murdered by a Fascist. A vile act. We'll offer the spectacle of a dramatic death to catch the people's imagination so they will continue to hate, increasingly hate Fascism. All Tara will become a great theater."
Poor Athos Jr. is crestfallen. His heroic father – not so heroic after all it would seem. A traitor to his friends, so shamed by his act of betrayal that he had asked to be killed. Or, worse, perhaps he simply took an undeserved opportunity for glory, knowing he had to die anyway. He had created a perfect deception, except that it has now been exposed, thirty-four years later, by the supposed hero's son! While these thoughts are reverberating through young Magnani's head, the time has come for him. to speak to the community as they unveil a new memorial to his father. Should he expose the truth? If not, would he be a mere accomplish in a lie – in an undeserved legend. Athos hesitates as he speaks, still mulling over what he's learned, giving nothing away yet. He pauses, and another vignette enters his awareness, a flashback to the shanty and his father sitting silently, looking at his trio of co-conspirators, thinking, "A bombing . . . the bombers (looking at the three 'donkeys' braying 'boom'). . . a bombing destined to fail from the beginning." Athos asks himself as he speaks to the crowd, "Why did he betray? A traitor is damaging even dead. It's more useful to have a hero." He suddenly realizes the actual nature of the cunning web of deception that his father had spun. His friends would not have murdered him without believing him to be a traitor, not even to create a martyr. He had arranged to sacrifice himself to his community as a martyr to bolster their resistance to Fascism and, to do that, he had to trick his only friends into believing him a traitor. Now, Athos Jr. is able to conclude his speech, truly feeling the truth of what he says, "A hero, yes, whom people can love." He concludes, "A man is made of all men. He is equal to all and all are equal to him."
After the ceremony, Athos Jr. returns to the train station to depart. As he waits, he hears one announcement and, then, another, that the train is delayed. He gets up to pace a bit and notices that the tracks are now overgrown with thick grass.
Themes:The Spider's Stratagem is possibly the thematically richest film I've ever encountered. It deals with multiple issues in complex ways. In addition to the overt plot, Bertolucci has constructed multiple subtexts through ingenious manipulation of performances, editing and mise-en-scène.
Let's start with the overt plot. I've read every review I could find on the internet for this film in preparing to write this piece. Most reviewers misunderstand the plot resolution, believing that Athos Sr. was, in fact, undeserving of his status as a hero. One reviewer says, "Consider then the implicit moral dilemma when you discover that your father is no angel, that he doesn't deserve the praise lavished upon his memory?" This reviewer concludes that Athos effectively cops out, deciding to let a falsehood stand. Another reviewer claims that the film shows that "Athos Magnani, the father, is an absolute nothing, despite his pseudo-idealism." Another concludes that Magnani "was a pompous jerk who really didn't do much anti-Fascist work." Still another says, "Magnani Jr. discovers that his father's death was in fact staged. Having betrayed his comrades' plot to assassinate Mussolini to the Fascists, Magnani Sr. decided to redeem himself by becoming an anti-fascist symbol for the people." Another mentions the father's treachery and concludes that "Athos decides to cast truth aside for the curative powers of myth." Each of these reviewers have been ensnared in the spider web – spun by Athos Sr. (and Bertolucci). Magnani Sr. had realized that the bombing plan was doomed to fail and would only discredit the anti-Fascist effort. The best available option, he had reasoned, was to create instead a martyr to incite anti-Fascist sentiment. He understood that his friends would not murder him unless they believed him to be a traitor. He therefore made himself an apparent traitor, being careful not to endanger any of his friends in the process. For his plan to work, they had to be fully convinced of his betrayal. So effective was the web of deceit he constructed that it continues, even today, to ensnare most viewers. It almost even caught the son, but Athos Jr. recognized the truth in the nick of time.
How do we know that this is the correct interpretation? First, why would Athos Sr. betray the assassination plan, when it was he who suggested the necessity of killing Il Duce? Second, if he were indeed a traitor, why would he call the carabinieri anonymously? Why would he not also expose the identities of the conspirators? Why would Bertolucci insert the flashback (the last flashback of the film) in Athos Jr.'s mind, as he is giving his speech, in which he pictures his father at the shanty realizing that the bombing plan is doomed to fail? Isn't the last piece of evidence in a mystery story the conclusive piece?
Need more evidence? Draifa explains to Athos Jr. that her name was derived from her father's admiration for "Dreyfus." Who was this Dreyfus? Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1939) was a French (and Jewish) army officer, falsely convicted of treason in 1894. He was sentenced to life in prison. Dreyfus maintained his innocence and, in 1896, a staff officer, Georges Picquart, uncovered additional documents that seemed to indicate that Dreyfus was, indeed, innocent. Picquart's superiors ordered him to drop the matter, but Dreyfus was awarded a new trial, in 1899. The new trial was a sham, however, in part because of strong anti-Semitic sentiment in the French military. This time Dreyfus was sentenced to just ten years but the French President pardoned Dreyfus after a few days. In 1906, under international pressure, the highest court in France reviewed the case and found Dreyfus innocent. He was reinstated and commanded one of the forts protecting Paris during World War I. I think that the relevant part of this story, in relation to The Spider's Stratagem, is the notion "falsely accused of treason."
Consider, also, that the entire film is set against the music of Verdi's Rigoletto, in which the protagonist kills his beloved daughter, believing that he is killing an enemy. In The Spider's Stratagem, the three friends of Athos kill their friend and hero, falsely believing him to be a traitor.
Other reviewers evade the snare, but only by giving up on the analysis or underestimating the importance of the overt plot. Ebert, for example, decides that the film "is better to look at than analyze" and dismisses the plot as unimportant. Another reviewer concludes "Borges never got around to filling in the blanks on his canvas but that doesn't excuse Bertolucci from coming up with satisfactory possibilities of his own." Actually, Bertolucci created a multilayered enigma that can be solved with effort, but that particular reviewer failed to look closely enough. "Who is the spider? And what is his stratagem?" that same reviewer wonders.
Spiders come in pairs. One spider is Draifa and the other is Athos Sr. What are the elements of a spider's stratagem? What comes to mind when you think of "arachnid psychology?" (1) They spin webs to ensnare the unwary; (2) they sit on their webs motionless, waiting for a victim to get caught in the web, then dart toward the prey to wrap them in sticky strands of silk; (3) they inject their victims with venom that puts them into a state of suspended animation; and (4) the female black-widow spiders devour their mates. Draifa is clearly arachnid-like. She is often dressed in black. She has lured Athos Jr. to Tara. She spins him up in a support cloth, similar to an Ace-bandage, after which he complains of feeling dizzy. She gives him a drink on the veranda that renders him unconscious, during which time he has a vivid dream in which his father appears, seemingly defying temporal limitations, as if father and son were in suspended animation. She tries to prevent him, finally, from leaving her home – her web. She experiences syncope periodically, lapsing into unconsciousness and, later, abruptly awakening. She struts about her lawn with arachnid-like movements.
Athos Sr. is also arachnid, but cognitively more than physically. He spins the story's ultimate web of deceit. He is a deep strategic thinker. At the outdoor dance, he outfoxes the brownshirts, subtly diminishing their Fascist anthem to mere dance music. His masterpiece, however, is the cunning way in which he masterminds his own martyrdom. He has to deceive his best friends into believing he is an anti-hero in order to gain their support in becoming a genuine hero. He is not the first deep thinker to recognize the value of martyrdom. Certainly Jesus of Nazareth understood, for example, that his martyrdom would greatly magnify the power of his teachings, his message. So cunning is the web of Athos Sr. that his three friends have never realized how they were lured into killing their best friend and hero. So cunning is the web that it ensnares most viewers of the film and almost ensnared Athos Jr.
Another issue, addressed mainly by subtext, is suspended animation. When Athos arrives in Tara, the trains are modern and the tracks clear of debris. At the end of the film, he sits at the station waiting, then notices the tracks are overgrown with grass. How much time has passed since he arrived? Is he in the past, present, or future? Is he Athos Sr. or Athos Jr.? Does Tara exist in some time warp? Was Draifa literally correct when she claimed, "You can't go away any more?" The blurring of the temporal domain is also furthered by the use of memory-segments rather than flashbacks, juxtaposing Athos Sr. as he looked in 1936 with his three friends as they look in 1970. We are also shown a Tara which is seemingly populated only by elderly people and young children. This town seems to exist outside normal time.
Another key issue handled in the subtext is the fuzzy nature of identity. Athos Jr. has lots of reasons for identity crisis. He has the same name as his famous father. He looks just like him. He's the same age, now, that his father was when he died. He's in the town that was his father's stomping ground. He carries some of the luster earned by his father. He interacts with his father's old friends and even his mistress. The old mistress comes on to the son as though he were the father reincarnate. The friends are afraid that Athos Jr. will betray their secret as (they believe) Athos Sr. betrayed their trust in 1936. Athos Sr., we are told, was "well cultured, well prepared, always documented." I imagine "always documented" means "well-read" and able to cite sources. We discover that Athos Sr. incorporated dramatic elements from Julius Caesar and Macbeth into his martyrdom and that the sources of these elements are immediately recognized by Athos Jr., who is similarly "well-documented." Every son is, in part, his father; some more than others.
The identity issue is further explored as it relates to reality vs. myths. It is the myth of a man or woman that is remembered, in the end, not the reality. Who am I? The person I believe myself to be, or the person that others perceive me to be? We don't want to be confused by facts! We need our myths, our heroes. The myth of Athos Sr. was created theatrically. His myth, however, was the rare case in which the myth was closer to the truth than was what his three best friends believed to be the truth. Cinema, drama, and literature play a large part in creating our myths.
Production Values:The Spider's Stratagem beautifully shows off Bertolucci's graceful tracking shots and exploration of spaces. The magnificent sets provide a surreal backdrop for the entire endeavor. Both the town, with its looming buildings, and Draifa's dwelling were constructed to create a sense of claustrophobia – of being trapped in a web. The numerous small rectangular windows in one of the rooms remind one of the geometric pattern of a spider's web. There is a sense of menace all around!
Bertolucci then adds a tantalizing oneiric sequence and a number of subjective memory-segments, all integrated gracefully. The quick cut editing is also magnificent in some scenes, such as the quick cuts between father and son running through the same woods in different eras. Bertolucci and his cinematographer Vittorio Storaro together studied a book of the works of surrealist painter Marcel Magritte for inspiration in planning the lighting pattern for this film.
Having both father and son played by the same actor was a nice touch. I thought Brogi's performance outstanding and am disappointed that he has no other credits in top-quality films (though he has about thirty credits all told). Alida Valli, who played Draifa, has a more impressive resume that includes We the Living (1942), The Third Man (1949), and Suspiria (1976). She was masterful, here, in her subtle arachnid-like movements. Pippo Campanini did a splendid job as Gaibazzi as did Tino Scotti as Costa.
Bottom-Line: If you like challenging intellectual puzzles in cinematic form – well, this is the best one I've ever come across, right up there with, for example, Last Year at Marienbad (1951). This one is more entertaining. The Spider's Stratagem is in Italian with English subtitles and has a running time of 97 minutes.
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