Triple Agent

Not surprisingly, the visually ascetic, dialogue-driven approach of octogenarian French filmmaker Eric Rohmer (My Night at Maud's, Clare's Knee) is not really suited for a taut spy thriller. Loosely based on a real incident involving an émigré White Russian army officer who served as secretary to a small veterans' committee in Paris in the late 1930s but disappeared shortly after the abduction of the group's head (leading to the suspicion that he might have been an agent of either the Soviets or the Nazis), Triple Agent is less concerned with the facts of the case than in meditating on the nature of trust, truth, and moral responsibility. Therefore, most of the film consists of long conversations and monologues in rather cramped period settings, in which the officer (played with a fine slipperiness by Serge Renko) reveals his habit of weighing all sides of issues while contemplating—if not necessarily engaging in—deception, concealment, and treachery. As is typical with Rohmer's work, the film offers moments of philosophical depth and psychological insight, but viewers looking for a conventional story of skullduggery and double-dealing will certainly find its studied ambiguity more frustrating than entertaining. Still, even though this is definitely not one of Rohmer's best, aficionados of his work will want to see it, making this a strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD extras include an interview in which a historian and one of the actual officer's descendents discuss the facts of his case. Bottom line: a small extras package for a lesser Rohmer film.] (F. Swietek)