Mata Hari, la vraie histoire

A very honest historical recreation of a famous romantic episode of WWI, the trial and execution of Mata Hari, the renowned exotic dancer and adventuress, not to say high class prostitute, turned international spy. The movie focuses on the relationship between the officer in charge of the enquiry and Mata Hari herself, now a prisoner at the Hôpital St Lazare, which mostly housed "fallen women" at the time. The dialogues are taut and sharp, the ambiguities of the accused and of the prosecutor keep up the spectator's interest even if, as in Greek tragedies, we all know the ending beforehand. Bernard Giraudeau is remarkable as the prosecutor, and the final scene, in the famous moat of Vincennes, is sober and full of dignity.