Mata Hari
1931, Biography, 1h 31m
9 Reviews 1,000+ RatingsYou might also like
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Movie Info
In Paris during World War II, Dutch exotic dancer Mata Hari (Greta Garbo) secretly moonlights as a German spy. Using her feminine wiles to seduce French and Russian agents into bed so she can uncover top-secret information, Mata Hari is a primary target of the French Spy Bureau's Dubois (C. Henry Gordon). When Mata Hari falls in love with one of her intended targets, the dashing Lt. Rosanoff (Ramon Novarro), Dubois uses her former accomplice (Lionel Barrymore) to bring her down.
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Genre: Biography
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Original Language: English
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Director: George Fitzmaurice
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Producer: Irving Thalberg
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Release Date (Theaters): limited
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Critic Reviews for Mata Hari
Audience Reviews for Mata Hari
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If this film had a better script, with less melodrama, it would be an absolute masterpiece. It's the amazing presence of Garbo, who's giving such a vivid performance that feels like the character comes alive on the screen. Amazing, amazing, amazing Garbo. Here you can see the reason why she became such a great star. The Mata Hari vehicle is also interesting for another reason. Mata treats men like equals - even her boss. Men treat her like a godess - and she may toy with them, to do her job, but ultimately, she values their humanity. Mata Hari is such an interesting personality, it's no wonder this character has become a legend. In this film we also see how progressive the 30s movies have been in treating women. Highly recommended despite its faults.
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A fake portrayal of Mata Hari's life...though Greta Garbo was great here.
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A very interesting movie, based on real life, but the film makers could have done a better job with putting this movie together. It just doesn't grab your attention, it's boring.
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"mata hari" is one of early vehicles for greta garbo in her sound stage, but the tale within the movie is entirely fictional despite there's truly a courtesan named mata hari existed in french history. in reality, the promiscuous courtesan who introduces hindu mysticism in her luring dances is simply a sappy lewd woman who naively assumes she could cheat german and french bureaus without offering any spy service, so she's caught to be made as an example despite she committed no actual treasury against france during wwi. but greta gabo's cinematic interpretation gives "mata hari" a subtext of feminism. garbo's mata hari is a real german spy with shrewd intelligence to utilize her own sex appeal to obtain secret information by infiltrating the french bureau until she falls head over heels in love with the russian pilot played by ramon navaro...so she loses her usual composure then slips away into fatal exposure, incurring the doom of her own execution. mata hari in historical reality is more of a kept prostitute for the idle riches, a woman who masters in life of luxury by the favors of men. she could be deemed as feminist more from an assertive perspective of sexual liberation, cut loose from conventional confinement of female virtues, a dionysian figure of individualistic self-indulgence. except this aspect, mata hari is simply a higher class whore who is unjustly punished for her careless mistake. BUT garbo's incarnation as mata hari would be more like a professional woman who is skillful enough to serve her duty as a spy, and also intelligent enough to dodge the governmental prying eyes, a modern woman with wits and charm to evolve her social status into the deity of men, dominating men with her allure meanwhile she belongs to no one but herself. when she chooses to love, she dives into the pit of amour relentlessly. as approaching her own demise, her face is glowing with the ecstasy of passion, her lips parted, repentless with her transient but sparkling life of gaiety. the movie treats mata hari with ultimate sacredness as ramon navaro exclaims "i adore you almost like i adore all the sacred things in life", and it presents a highly idealized contour of the divine woman whose love is precious enough to die for. but still, she's humanized into the martyr of man's love, a romanticist who would rather sacrifice herself to save her beloved. they're larger-than-life tales of romanticism since 30s audience craves for the dreamy escapism to shudder from the grim depression then. in contemporary standard, they all appear corny and preposterous to cynicists. the most phenomenal achievement for "mata hari" belongs to the costume design of adrian who dubs greta garbo with numerous head gears which are allegedly furnaced by garbo's lesbian admirer mercedes de acosta who also had a fling with marlene dietrich. movies like "mata hari" which manifests women in a lofty and respectful light could sell because women then still held a mystic glitter to men, and female sex appeal remained as something men desire to conquer and linger with yearnings just like coveting someone without onanistic release. (pardon the expression)...nowadays it's more like incessant onanism which leaves you callous since sex is overflown everywhere.
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