Mascarada

The title and its introductory headline tells the whole story: everyone here is a fake, and the only innocent ones are stupid enough not to see them through but to just follow their tricks like sheep into a slaughterhouse. Although the dialog to start with is excellent, but the intrigue is constantly getting weaker and cheaper, almost like turning into a bad James Bond copy yarn of tiresome exertions. The intrigue starts to falter when the lady enters the plot and the agent doesn't see what should have been obvious from the start: if there is anyone you cannot trust in a political thriller game, it's an acting woman. That's elementary. The circus people turn out to be surprisingly honest after all, and it's a pity that Tutte Lermkow had to be shot. Michel Piccoli delivers the ultimate comment to the dirty business: "I hope they all kill each other." At least they try, but they all turn out more or less professional failures.