When in a French airport, a Russian official asks for political asylum and announces his refusal to return to his home country. French authorities are delighted by this windfall, since the defector was known to be involved in espionage up to his armpits. However, their catch refuses to cooperate. He is willing to spill the beans, but only to the Americans...
"Le serpent" deals with a cruel tangle of deceit and betrayal. There is a fine cast of acting greats, the plot is clever and a number of individual scenes are striking and memorable, such as the deliberate murder of a man sitting in a little boat while his unsuspecting children play nearby. Yet the movie as a whole is remarkably cold. It is as though the director were constantly distancing himself from the events, saying "Look, this is a nasty story and I don't like telling it, but somebody had to do it".
I don't know how to call this attitude - clinical detachment ? Olympian aloofness ? - but it certainly does not contribute to the rapt involvement of the viewer. One watches the movie, one appreciates the twisty deviousness of the plot, but one does not emotionally invest into it.
You'll note how "Le serpent" criticizes and condemns intelligence and counterintelligence services on both sides of the Iron Curtain. According to the movie, there is little or no difference between West and East when it comes to institutionalized ruthlessness and inhumanity.
"Le serpent" deals with a cruel tangle of deceit and betrayal. There is a fine cast of acting greats, the plot is clever and a number of individual scenes are striking and memorable, such as the deliberate murder of a man sitting in a little boat while his unsuspecting children play nearby. Yet the movie as a whole is remarkably cold. It is as though the director were constantly distancing himself from the events, saying "Look, this is a nasty story and I don't like telling it, but somebody had to do it".
I don't know how to call this attitude - clinical detachment ? Olympian aloofness ? - but it certainly does not contribute to the rapt involvement of the viewer. One watches the movie, one appreciates the twisty deviousness of the plot, but one does not emotionally invest into it.
You'll note how "Le serpent" criticizes and condemns intelligence and counterintelligence services on both sides of the Iron Curtain. According to the movie, there is little or no difference between West and East when it comes to institutionalized ruthlessness and inhumanity.