Mata Hari, la vraie histoire

An extraordinary beauty this Maruschka Detmers and not only beautiful, but also extremely talented. Excellent film played by all actors. The moment before the execution, when Mata Hari refuses to be tied to her eyes and she looks at her killers, it's very emotional. The captain played by Bernard Giraudeau and the nun played by Michèle Gleizer are specially very good. A moment of deep shame in the history of France.

A very honest historical recreation of a famous romantic episode of WWI, the trial and execution of Mata Hari, the renowned exotic dancer and adventuress, not to say high class prostitute, turned international spy. The movie focuses on the relationship between the officer in charge of the enquiry and Mata Hari herself, now a prisoner at the Hôpital St Lazare, which mostly housed "fallen women" at the time. The dialogues are taut and sharp, the ambiguities of the accused and of the prosecutor keep up the spectator's interest even if, as in Greek tragedies, we all know the ending beforehand. Bernard Giraudeau is remarkable as the prosecutor, and the final scene, in the famous moat of Vincennes, is sober and full of dignity.