The Spider's Stratagem
by Bernardo Bertolucci
Our Price: $68.00
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $57.95 (click here)
Category: VHS Video
See more movie releases
Buy this VHS video movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
VHS Tape Cover Information
Actor: Alida Valli, Franco Giovanelli, Giulio Brogi, Pippo Campanini, Tino ScottiDirector: Bernardo Bertolucci
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Subtitled); Italian (Original Language), Analog
Format: Color, NTSC, Subtitled
Running Time: 97 minutes
Release Date: 1998-01-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: New Yorker Video
Studio: New Yorker Video
VHS Movie Reviews of The Spider's Stratagem
Movie Review: Continuity That Sleeps
Summary: 3 Stars
Bertoluci's film is often abundantly gorgeous to look at but while that may be the case, it doesn't keep us interested enough in the protagonist's development or the plight of the film. His early films were often too 'artistic' to be taken seriously and his pretentiousness is quite evident here; he borrowed soundly from Godard and it shows with the excess wearisomeness. The plot concerns a young man named Athos Magnani who visits a small village in Italy where his father was reputedly an "anti-fascist freedom fighter" in 1936, but from the flash backs, he was a pompous jerk who really didn't do much anti-fascist work.
In one scene of a dance in the village, Athos' father is smoking his cigarette in defiance of the fascist thugs who are giving him vicious looks. It all seems so silly and mundane, like a challenge that never surfaces. His father was 'supposedly' murdered by the fascists and in the present is considered a hero, with the whole bit of martyrdom being evident in the erected statue that bears a striking resemblance to Athos. So steps his son, in search of what his father was. The town does not want to return to the past, they have heroes today for a reason and they hesitate to unravel anything about that long ago era.
Bertolucci manages to bore us while piecing useless confabulations from the people who knew his father including the mistress and three close chums, who are played by the old actors in the flashbacks, and thus Bertolucci plays with the contextual memory of the plot. Athos is a character who seems pained and thus reducing our sympathy of him to distaste and animosity. I wanted to grab him and slap him a few times, he was such a chump! Is Athos his father or did his father ever exist? What we have in the end is an erection of exorbitant delineations that don't really matter at all to us. Bertolucci could have made a wonderful film that rivals some of the great directors of the time but somewhere along the line everything didn't get aggregated like it should have, what we have instead is an egotistical exercise in excess that is only ideal to a half drowsy art student.
Art House & International VHS Video
VHS Video Movies
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation VHS Video
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics VHS Video
- Comedy VHS Video
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama VHS Video
- Educational
- Fitness
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror VHS Video
- Kids & Family
- Military & War VHS Video
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports VHS Video
- Television VHS Video
- Westerns VHS Video
Movies most talked about in Greatest Films Unavailable on Domestic DVD
The Magnificent AmbersonsTurner Home Entertainment; Release date: 1996-08-13; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops:
Peter Greenaway: The Fallsby Peter Greenaway
Dis Voir; Published: 1993-10-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.55
Price in other shops:
Once Upon a Time Cinema (Sub)Facets; Release date: 2000-02-29; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $28.45
Price in other shops:
The White BalloonEvergreen Ent; Release date: 1997-07-29; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $19.49
Price in other shops:
Burden of Dreams:Making FitzcarraldoFlowers Films & Video; Release date: 1992-05-12; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
An Autumn AfternoonNew Yorker Video; Release date: 1998-11-11; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $19.97
Late SpringNew Yorker Video; Release date: 1998-11-11; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $70.00
I Was Born, But...New Yorker Video; Release date: 1999-10-12; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $88.88
The StrangerFirst Run Features; Release date: 1998-03-10; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Werner Herzog Eats His ShoeRelease date: 1979-01-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Similar VHS Movies
The Gospel According to St. MatthewWELLSPRING/GENIUS; Release date: 2007-03-27; DVD
Best price: $11.96
Price in other shops:
La Commare Secca - Criterion CollectionRelease date: 2005-02-01; DVD
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops:
L'Eclisse - Criterion CollectionRelease date: 2005-03-15; DVD
Best price: $26.76
Price in other shops:
Fassbinder's BRD Trilogy (The Marriage of Maria Braun / Veronika Voss / Lola) - Criterion CollectionRAINER WERNER FASSBINDER'S TRILO; Release date: 2003-09-30; DVD
Best price: $54.06
Price in other shops:
1900 (Special Collector's Edition)Paramount; Release date: 2006-12-05; DVD
Best price: $12.38
Price in other shops:
Cinema Paradiso (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition)WELLSPRING/GENIUS; Release date: 2006-11-07; DVD
Best price: $13.98
Price in other shops:
Pierrot le Fou - Criterion CollectionImage Entertainment; Release date: 2008-02-19; DVD
Best price: $26.75
Price in other shops:
The Conformist (Extended Edition)Paramount; Release date: 2006-12-05; DVD
Best price: $7.46
Price in other shops:
Before the RevolutionNew Yorker Video; Release date: 1998-01-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $8.50
Price in other shops:
Amarcord (Criterion Collection)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2006-09-05; DVD
Best price: $26.79
Price in other shops: