Mata Hari, agent H21

This version is nothing special. Knowing the fact that there are more than twenty film treatments of the famous dancer's story, I can easily go through this with absolutely zero experience. I'm actually now more tempted by the decade-older, obvious Italian rubbish called La figlia di Mata Hari. In this film, Jeanne Moreau is neither fatal nor interesting in any way, and the character is overacted by anyone who is inspired by the counter-espionage plot. Suzanne Marwille was outstanding in For the Freedom of the Nation, and at the time Mata was played by Asta Nielsen in a pair of films. Marlene Dietrich was perfect in Dishonored, and in her time Greta Garbo played Hari. Meanwhile, Magda Sonja appeared as Zelle. So when the version with Moreau appeared on the scene, it only ended up taking part in the 1960s Renaissance wave, a reverent return to older favorite themes that peaked in the 1930s. Jean-Louis Richard’s version of this film is pathetically reduced to a single love motif, and Mata Hari is presented from the start as a beaten-down, confused illusionist who was a mere fly in the web of wartime power politics. It would have been better not to let this cheap sentimental plot drown in topknots and bold eyeliner because Art Nouveau was different. (2010.06.24)