Os Filhos de Mata Hari

A late film from veteran French Director, Jean Delannoy, a name not previously known to me. Stephane Audran, always a welcome sight, stars with Lilli Palmer in a very low key performance and a late appearance from the ever welcome if not ever reliable, Klaus Kinski. Kinski is fine in this with a part that it seems likely was made to fit. I enjoyed this serious and downbeat tale of espionage. It was well shot and well crafted securing good performances from all. We are not guided to support either one side or the other and like Audran seem rather stuck in the middle as we desperately try to work out first what is happening and then how she might survive. There are several particularly good sequences, including the original incident and later a rather tense process where the police seem ready to close in. There is a also a most surprising and dramatic scene in which Audran is central and proves to be a pivotal moment in the film. Involving.

This, one of the premier ambience films of the genre, appears at the end of the sixties cycle of spy films. It is a serious, even dour film that focuses equally on both sides of the espionage fence with sympathies for neither. Here, spying is a business but it is not without its emotions, albeit suppressed and discarded as required, and death is almost always a matter of honor. When death is unexpected it is also unfair, a matter of happenstance that triggers far reaching consequences.

The plot consists of good guys and bad guys trying to out maneuver each other while both are after Stephane Audran. The complexities of the film extend beyond plotting. The `good' guys in the film are hardly more than cyphers; they play the espionage odds, sometimes winning, sometimes losing, without developing traits one would associate with human character. The `bad' guys on the other hand, are well rounded people that suffer and consider but do their jobs anyway.

Suicide, the controlled death, plays a large part in the film. It is a means of conquering enemies, expressing love, admitting defeat. It's those that live on in their confusion and misery that we must pity. This fine mood piece is complimented by a melancholy score by Francois de Roubaix which captures the ennui without bringing too much attention to itself.

Jean Delannoy ,as any French cine buff knows it,was the main Bete Noire of the Nouvelle Vague .But do not get me wrong ,I like many of his movies ,at least a dozen Of them ,but it was before 1965 ;after "Les Amitiés Particulières " -his last good effort- ,all that he made was abysmal."Les Sultans " was an obnoxious macho flick whereas "Le Soleil Des Voyous" was another thriller in which Gabin paired up with Robert Stack to no avail.

If these were bad ,"La Peau De Torpedo " was worse ,a dreadful two-bit spy thriller where the actors ,left to their own devices ,seem to be sleepwalkers;Stephane Audran,then Claude Chabrol's wife (and making with him some of the best movies of her career),seems lost in this part of a woman unaware of what her hubby (Frederic De Pasquale) does behind her back.Highly talented Lili Palmer keeps a low profile and underacts ,probably the wisest thing to do in a movie in which Germans (Palmer and Kinski) speak French between them:that does not show respect for the audience!the long silent scene in which De Pasquale steals the secret documents may indicate that Delannoy was influenced by Melville .

To a young person who would like to discover Delannoy -if there are any left-I'd say :take "l'Eternel Retour" "Dieu A Besoin Des Hommes" or "Les Jeux Sont Faits" ;if you want to know how skillful he was when he tackled thrillers ,pick up "obsession" or "Maigret Tend Un Piège":you will be rewarded.

For Heaven's sake ,don't you watch this limp cloak and dagger dud or else you might think that the N.W. was right to put Delannoy down.In this case ,they were.

Like this?try these .....

"La Totale" Claude Zidi

"True Lies" ,James Cameron (remake of the previous)