Mata Hari, Agent H21

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jean-Louis Richard directs. Michel Kelber behind the camera. Georges Delerue scores. Kenout Peltier cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in France, Italy. Dialogue in German, Spanish, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 162 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: German, Spanish, French.
• 3International production across 2 countries: France, Italy.
• 4Directed by Jean-Louis Richard, shot by Michel Kelber. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by Georges Delerue. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor Kenout Peltier shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7Jeanne Moreau and Jean-Louis Trintignant and Claude Rich carry the top of the cast.
• 8IMDB entry: tt0059435 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Only 28 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
• 10Classified under 8 themes, including "world war i", "secret agent", "based on true story", "romance".

The technical file

Cinematography

Michel Kelber

Original score

Georges Delerue

Editing

Kenout Peltier

Production design

Claude Pignot

Costume design

Pierre Cardin

Runtime

98 min · 1h 38m

Status

Released

Original language

FR

IMDB

Mata Hari, Agent H21 (1964) ↗

Also by

Jean-Louis Richard

• 
  Good Luck, Charlie

  1962 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Diane's Body

  1969 · ★ 5.0
• 
  The Click

  1985 · ★ 4.6

Community reviews

What people are saying

• CinemaSerf2024-11-20
  ★ 6/10

  I thought for a moment it was Gale Sondergaard under the bejewelled crown, but no - it's Jeanne Moreau as the eponymous lady who charms the pants, literally, from the French soldiers from whom she exacts more than kisses. She lives well on the proceeds of her courtesanship, but she also augments that cash by working for the Bosch towards the end of the Great War enabling them to acquire useful French state secrets. She is cold and calculating until she encounters "Lasalle" (Jean-Louis Trintignant). There's something about him that permeates her hitherto impervious armour, and though that doesn't stop her using him, unusually she begins to care. That's dangerous thing for both of them, and when he discovers that she is still trying to tap up his superiors, he decides to abandon ship before he gets hurt - well emotionally, anyway. Physically, well some shrapnel soon lays him low and brings her to his side for a reconciliation, and from her perspective, a bit of a reassessment of her priorities. Is it all too late, though? The drama is portrayed in just a bit too staccato a fashion here and though I did think there was some chemistry between the two, the story unfolds in quite an episodic manner with little real emotion to explain why she connected with him, or even why she was up to no good in the first place. Some context on that score might have elicited a little more sympathy for her but it's not there so it's left to be a slightly disappointing soapy melodrama with espionage trimmings. I did quite enjoy it, but it could have been better.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• FI

  Fida Cinematografica

  IT

• FI

  Filmel

  FR

• 

  Les Films du Carrosse

  FR

• SI

  Simar Films

  FR

Key crew

• ProducerEugène Lépicier
• EditorKenout Peltier
• Production DesignClaude Pignot
• Costume DesignPierre Cardin
• Assistant DirectorChristian de Chalonge
• Assistant DirectorJean-Pierre Léaud

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• world war i
• secret agent
• based on true story
• romance
• femme fatale
• execution
• secret service
• exotic dancer

Release history · US

When it landed

• Digital2017-10-09· Arte•tv
• TV2017-10-09· Arte