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Poster for The Spider's Stratagem

The Spider's Stratagem

1970 · 1h 40m · N/A Drama, Mystery
Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci

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Overview

A young man returns to his countryside hometown to investigate the unclear circumstances behind the death of his father, ostensibly killed by Fascists in 1936, before his birth. As he unravels a web of lies that seems to encompass the whole town, he finds himself entangled in the same web.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
100%
Tomatometer
Fresh

[A] mesmeric film.

Jay Cocks, TIME Magazine
Fresh

Full of mysteries, omens, ambiguities, and signs of incipient madness, and it resolves itself into a riddle that is the cinema's richest homage to all that's remarkable in Borges.

Tony Rayns, Time Out
Fresh

The film's color photography is extraordinarily lovely for, like the conspirators within the film, Bertolucci has a weakness for the purely theatrical effect.

Vincent Canby, New York Times
Fresh

It's a movie with a beautiful cinematic grace, a way of establishing atmosphere and furthering plot without a lot of talking.

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Fresh

[Features] sumptuous visuals and sense of high tragedy.

Don Druker, Chicago Reader

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