Mata Hari (1985) User Reviews

Below average version based on famous dancer who used her beauty to seduce and spy

[ma-cortes · 3/10 · 10 June 2009]

This is a soft-core biography about notorious dancer with smouldering allure who had relationships with high-ranking military officers, politicians,millionaires and others in influential positions in many countries. The film starts in Java 1909, where we see to Mata Hari dancing an exotic temple dance. 1914 Paris , two captains (Christopher Cazenove, Oliver Tobias) know to Margheritte Zella. Later Mata Hari travels in train where knows a handsome traveller (Derek De Lint) but he's suddenly murdered. Then she's accused from killing but is freed by the German captain(Cazenove). Paris 1915, Folies Bergere where Mata Hari is playing a spectacle impersonating the Goddess Kali with several hands. There encounters again the French captain(Tobias), who frames her as informer and asks her participate as Allied spy . In Madrid contacts with a watchmaker and is blackmailed by two German spies(Gaye Brown,Gottfried John). Now she must to go behind the enemy lines and rescue the German captain, dressing as nurse.Posteriorly in Paris 1916, is proceeded an intrigue about an liquid explosive which the baddies want to explode into a cathedral.

This is an erotic and disastrous rendition about the life of famous spy Mata Hari.The picture is full of sexual relations, nudism and some of action and drama. Lousy performance by Sylvia Kristel, Emmanuel, at one of the worst acting of the cinema history. Produced in middling budget by Menahen Golan and Yoran Globus, Cannon, usual producers lots of films during the 70s and 80s. The movie is badly directed by Curtis Harrington.

Although the story is inspired on real events, it's mostly a historical fiction , the actual deeds are the following: His true name was Margaretha Zella(1876-1917), a Frisian-Dutch known dancer and double agent during WWI. She was a successful courtesan , though was known more for her eroticism and sensuality rather for her stunning classic beauty. At 18, she answered an announce in newspapers about a man looking for spouse. She married Netherland Colonial Official and they moved to Indonesia , at island of Java. But the marriage was a disappointment and the couple early separated in 1903. Meanwhile she practices Indonesian traditions, uniting a local dance company learning the exotics jigs. Later she revealed her artistic name, Mata Hari, for 'eye the day' of the sun. She moving back to Europe , winning fame and fortune as exotic dancer. She was one of the leaders of the contemporary dancers, such as Ruth Dennis and Isadora Duncan that looked to Asian world for inspiration. During WWI, as neutral origin citizen was able to cross national borders freely , she travelled among Netherland, France, Germania, Spain but her several movements inevitably attracted attention. In early 1917 the German staff in Madrid transmitted messages to Berlin referring the activities of a German spy , code named H-21. French Intelligence intercepted it and identified as Mata Hari. Then she was detained and put on trial, framed of spying for Germany and condemned death warrant , accused to cause deceasing of at least 50.000 allied soldiers. She was founded guilty and executed by firing squad at the age of 41.

Another better rendering based on famed courtesan/spy are: a silent version with Magda Sonja , classic adaptation by George Fitzmaurice with Greta Garbo and Ramon Novarro and Mata Hari, agent H 21(1964) by Jean Louis Richard with Jeanne Moreau and Jean Louis Trintignant.

A travesty of the real Mata Hari

[Jeannot · 4/10 · 23 March 1999]

This is a soft-porn version of the life of the real Mata Hari, supposed spy for the Germans, executed by the French in 1917. This movie tries to sanctify MH, but only makes her ridiculous. Her real life and fate was far more interesting than this movie.

Witless junk

[dave13-1 · 3/10 · 15 April 2012]

Did some idiot actually give this pile of garbage a 10?

This movie represents further proof, as if we needed it, that Hollywood is better at promoting movies than at actually making them. The idea of casting one of the sex symbols of the 70s, Sylvia Kristel, as one of the most notorious women in history, Mata Hari, a women whose mere name implies seduction, betrayal and intrigue, would seem like a winning combination, but that's about as far as anybody thought it through.

Mata Hari herself comes off as uninteresting and not particularly sexy, and her exploits, far from impacting the fortunes of nations in the high stakes game of WWI espionage, seem trite and trivial. Perhaps this was the point - to demonstrate that the myth of Mata Hari far surpassed the actuality - and if so the creators succeeded. Somehow, I doubt this was the intent. I think we just got another example of incompetent film- making. The subject matter SHOULD have been fascinating, even if the myth went far beyond the real history and the story should have been interesting and instructive however it evolved. In this case, we just got painfully dull cinema, unerotic and even unglamorous to the point of seeming rather tawdry looking. Mata Hari's famous stage act is recreated without sufficient verve or visual style to really give the viewer a sense as to how she become an international sensation, and Kristel herself seemed to be sleepwalking her way through the role, not that the script ever gave her anything much of interest to do. As the picture (and Mata Hari herself) reached its end, I found myself wondering, Is this it? Was this all she did? And if so, how did she become a household name? Such questions should not remain unanswered at the end of a biopic. I wouldn't have minded an inaccurate or sensationalized biopic either, as that might at least have been passably entertaining. Yet, I was not convinced that this version did Mata Hari's story justice either. Maybe a remake is in order.

US version of Mata Hari

[hellhound · 1/10 · 24 January 2007]

US version of Mata Hari is cut omitting all of the sex scenes.International version is much more longer.DVD version released by MGM features the cut end edited version.Original version contain much more sex and nudity.I don't recommend that version.It is a soft core movie and buying the censored version of this silly film will be funny. I am doubtful that Lady Chatterley is also cut or not.I am not sure about it but i is also "R" rated.And it may also be cut.Fifth Musketeer is also cut omitting all of the nudity.For example uncut version contains much more nudity from Sylvia Kristel and Ursula Andress.

Nothing but a soft-porn version of the life of a mythical spy

[jgcorrea · 25 December 2008]

This is a ridiculous biopic about the real, incredibly beautiful belly dancer, master spy, Javanese princess etc. Mata Hari, a supposed spy for the Germans, executed by the French in 1917. The movie tries to redeem her, but only makes her pathetic. She would definitely have been all but forgotten today, had she not been shot for espionage. If she was indeed guilty, and in that case for what, is a complex issue, considerably more so than the film in question. Margaretha Geertruida Zelle was born in 1876 in Leeuwarden, Holland, by Dutch parents. Under the artist name of Mata Hari she made a comet career as an "exotic dancer" in lavish settings with a less than genuine Indian/oriental touch. She was said to be the daughter of a Brahman priest; or something similar -- all make-believe promotional bullshit, made possible by her dark eyes, hair and complexion (though she wouldn't have fooled nearly as many in Jakarta or Bombay as in Paris, of course). She did, however, have a connection to Java (then part of the Dutch empire), having lived there 1897-1902. What about her great looks and great dancing? When Greta Garbo did her part (in the all but fictional movie which probably have contributed more than anything else to the general image of Mata Hari) she was 26 years old and looked like - well - like Garbo. Sylvia Kristel was 33 in the trash in question. The gift of Margaretha Zelle never was great looks as much as charisma and sex appeal. At her execution in 1917 she was 41, and had her dancing well behind. Most of the dancing took place in 1905-06, then the assignments gradually became fewer and worse paid, until 1915. She now lived on her lovers. Her living standards varied considerably despite her international fame; sometimes she spent months at the best hôtels of Paris, sometimes she survived on quite limited means - sometimes simultaneously. Downright prostitution did occur, though she never accepted any customers whatsoever. (Her preference for men in uniform - rather a poor officer than a rich banker, as she put it - would contribute to her end.) In the genuine jet set, she was a temporary visitor. As far as dancing is concerned she was an autodidact, and her shows had really nothing to do with anything one can find in the Middle East, India or Southeast Asia. The point of marketing herself as a native woman of class who shared the ancient culture of the Orient etc. was that the nobility (men and women alike) for the first time ever could sit and watch someone undress. That would also be her lasting (?) contribution; to make strip tease acceptable. The words mata hari literally means "the eye of the day", compounded to matahari (she also spelt it "Mata-Hari") it means, literally, "sun" in Indonesian (similar meanings in related languages like Malayan); today it's also the name an Indonesian supermarket chain. Her first artist name was "Lady MacLeod" after a supposed lord father, and it didn't disappear from the posters until 1912, when the real MacLeod (her former husband) sued her. In August 1916, Captain Ladoux, head of the French counterespionage, told her that the British considered her a German spy. He didn't believe them, he said, but wondered if she would like to work for the Republic? She eventually accepted; a single mission on the highest level, for the mind-boggling price of one million franc. On her way to Belgium and her supposed mission, she was arrested by the British who took her for another spy. After her release, she had to go to Madrid, and that's essentially where her entire career as a spy took place, during two weeks in December 1916. For a start, she contacted the German embassy to gain their trust - she was to turn into a double agent. That the name of Mata Hari has become synonymous with a master spy is definitely a factoid, considering her very short career as well as her very limited skills in the craft (even when compared to her colleagues), not to say naïvety. (Like when she attempted to discuss her mission in clear in ordinary mail or over a plain telephone, or when she refused to use invisible ink.) The German military attaché obviously found this out within minutes. Mata Hari apparently didn't understand she had been revealed, but returned to Paris, happy with the (worthless) intelligence she thought she had fooled out of the attaché. The problem was that Mata Hari had indeed accepted to work for the Germans. In May 1916 she accepted the payment of twenty thousand francs (for services delivered, as the prosecution would later claim) which at the time was a small fortune. She insisted that she wanted to fool Germany of the money as payment for some furs she earlier had lost due to the involvement of that nation, and that she never gathered any intelligence for them. If she actually got the money for nothing, it would explain why the Germans had aggressions toward a useless agent, instead of feeding her with disinformation. But was it true? The court didn't believe her, in particular since they never got to see all the evidence, nor did they hear some key witnesses who could have defended Mata Hari. She was executed at October 15, 1917. It's worth noting that no German spies have claimed that Mata Hari was part of their organization but actually denied it . Whether she was a mythomaniac, Public Relations-minded, naif or simply had bad memory - or all of it - it's a fact that many of the myths that surround her were of her own fabrication.

Possibly The Worst "War Film" Of All Time

[aaandykov-994-800452 · 1/10 · 7 May 2014]

This is a real stinker of a film. The acting is execrable, the plot is almost incomprehensible and the accents are so shocking that they are to die for! Sylvia K has almost nothing to contribute to this film apart from her breasts, which are mildly alluring. Her acting ability is laughable and is matched in awfulness only by Christopher Casenove, who can only be described as a "hoot". In the most hilarious portion of the film, he is rescued from behind enemy lines by SK dressed as a nun (!) She has just crossed no-man's land during a full scale attack by German forces. She then drags him from the hospital in bandages and proceeds to commune with him in a bombed out barn. You must see it to believe it. I recommend you either a) don't bother b) watch the film with mates when you are all blotto when you can really appreciate its true horror. Two hours of your life would be better spent asleep or picking your toe nails.

AWFUL!

[grahamsj3 · 2/10 · 21 January 2004]

This film is a complete waste of time and celluloid. The actors (and I use that term lightly) wasted their time making this film. The people who went and saw this film (alas, I was one) wasted their time. Do you see a pattern here? This film STINKS, plain and simple. Don't waste your time on it. There are other sources of information about this famous woman. Utilize them instead of seeing this!

Fails on every level

[grantss · 2/10 · 2 July 2016]

Mata Hari is a beautiful Dutch-born dancer, working in Paris. It is August 1914 and war between France and Germany seems imminent. However, she accepts an invitation to travel to Berlin as part of a show. On the train she meets a young German army officer but any thoughts of romance are cut short when a French agent is murdered on the train, while in her company. She is arrested in Germany but freed when the German officer intervenes. While in Germany war breaks out and she is recruited by German Intelligence to spy on France.

I was under no illusions regarding this film, figuring it was mostly made as a skin flick (it stars Sylvia Kristel) but hoping that it was at least historically accurate, thus making it sensual depiction of the life of Mata Hari. Despite my low expectations, however, it is still disappointing.

About the only historically accurate things about this movie are the facts that she was Dutch, lived in the Dutch East Indies for a while, was a dancer, was a German spy and was captured by the French and executed. Everything else is pretty much fiction, created for dramatic effect, and poor effect at that.

Her whole story gets turned into one of her being blackmailed into being a spy, doing it for all love and actually doing her best to undermine the Germans. The idea is to make this into a love-during- wartime drama, but it fails as a romantic drama too - quite unengaging.

It even fails at it primary purpose - as a skin flick. Quite tame in that regard, what there is. The topless female fencing duel was unintentionally quite hilarious though...

It's essentially a B-grade (at best) skin flick with pretensions of being a romantic biopic, but by trying to encompass so many genres and audiences it fails in all of them.

Oh well

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 17 January 2022]

13 year old me didn't care about any 80s starlet that you'd care to mention. I'd already discovered the forbidden fruit that was Eurosleaze and with it, probably one of its classier stars, Sylvia Kristel. You know who agreed with me? Well, at least in the theory that he could make money off of her? Menahem Golan of Cannon, who came up with this movie just for her.

Curtis Harrington directed and he wasn't pleased with the end product, but this was Cannon. He didn't have final cut. "I wish I could have been involved in preserving what I felt was the integrity of the film. There were moments I felt were unreasonably cut. I'm not entirely happy with the cut. But (the people at Cannon) don't care what I think," he said at the time.

Even as a teen watching this with no sound on Cinemax, I knew that it wasn't historically accurate. It's about a fictitious love triangle between Mata Hari and two officers, one French and one German, who end up on the opposite sides of World War I. Despite Mata Hari exposing a German plot, she's still arrested as a double agent and executed, even though everyone knows that she's innocent, which wasn't what I was looking for at 1:47 AM on Cinemax After Dark, you know?

This movie was chopped up to avoid an X rating, Kristel was dubbed and she was deep in her addiction by this point. As much as I love Cannon, they were not the studio to make this, but had that ever stopped them before?

Out of time

[ricardojorgeramalho · 6/10 · 15 August 2023]

A film that takes advantage of two myths, Mata Hari and Sylvia Kristel, in a vain attempt to revive a third one, erotic cinema.

Regarding the first myth, the film is merely inspired by reality, as is usual in cinema, particularly in Hollywood. Sometimes it takes real facts and characters, such as Captain Ledoux, Mrs. MacLeod, living in Java, erotic dances in Paris and Berlin, counter-espionage, the trial and death by firing squad, sometimes fantasy, in love with Karl (in fact her lover was a Russian officer in the service of the French, named Maslov, whom she rescued from enemy lines), the relationship between Karl and Ledoux, the sinister Fraulein Schragmuller and her terrorist conspiracy, and many other aspects of the argument. A recurring criticism in pseudo-biographical fiction.

But where the film most fails is in its attempt to use Kristel, the actress of Emmanuelle and erotic cinema diva of the previous decade, to embody that other erotic myth that is Mata Hari.

Erotic cinema was itself a myth. It never constituted a true genre, but a simple use of the progressive lightening of censorship to sell more and more nudity in the cinema, to the lustful public.

But, in 1985, nudity was already common in most films, even in Hollywood, and it no longer surprised anyone. It is used here in a more abundant dose than usual, but nothing particularly shocking or innovative, even for the time.

This leaves a good production, but focused on Kristel's sex and nudity scenes, which gives what is expected of her, but nothing more than that, because she was never a particularly gifted actress. Just a beautiful and elegant face and body, which cinema used to sell eroticism.

The film is therefore a misconception. A generous production, but that came a decade late.

Gorgeous photography in this much under-rated WWI picture

[Jimbo52 · 10/10 · 16 August 2006]

So what if some say this was "Awful"! The supporting cast under Miss Kristal is actually very good. Both the French and the Germans are believable. (What is it with lesbian German "fraulein doktors"?) :-) While the WWI battle scenes were rather poor for their lack of hundreds of extras, the details of what WAS shown is very commendable! Miss Kristal's best scene is where she stands at the edge of a trench and her coat drops to reveal for the first time her nurse's uniform (her costume for her spy duties). It doesn't sound dramatic, but the shot IS! The rest of the movie is just GORGEOUS with the European locations, set decoration and authentic props (including a steam locomotive!). It is a beautifully shot movie! You think you are back in 1916! If you enjoyed the location photography in THE BLUE MAX, you will also like MATA HARI! It may not be CITIZEN KANE but very watchable... many times, even!

Mata Hari

[Coxer99 · 20 July 1999]

Ridiculous film about suppossed German spy Mata Hari who weaves a wicked spell and leaves behind broken hearts and lifeless bodies. Speaking of lifeless bodies, the film stars Sylvia Kristel as the title character.