A man returns to his hometown of Tara to investigate the murder of his father, whose trope-laden legacy as an anti-Fascist martyr looms over every home and business. In this psychoanalysis-inspired reimagining of "The Theme of the Traitor and the Hero" by Jorge Luis Borges, Bernardo Bertolucci settles into the cracks of a tale untrue held together by the projections and fantasies of a neglected mistress, fearful old friends and the vain hero himself. These figures wander through scenes from their youth as their older selves, as if forever chained to the secrets of the past. Bertolucci and cinematographer Vittorio Storraro were guided by Magritte, evident in the tree-lined tracking shots and still life compositions of food and drink bathed in sunlight. Originally produced for Italian television, the film was released in theatres shortly after The Conformist. Alongside its Mr. Arkadin-esque counterpart, the Citizen Kane-like Spider's Strategem completes a diptych on the tension between bourgeois values and anti-Fascist principles—and of course, between fathers and sons. – Kelley Dong