If one doesn't let anticipation over the prospect of Rossellini working with Stendahl's work run too high, this film should not disappoint. It is not Rossellini being "hands on" - it involved many production problems and came at a time when RR was preparing to turn his back on cinema, and still it works as a costume drama with intelligent plotting and setting. Let's put it this way - as an RR film, it's maybe a 5. As a costume drama set next to the nonsense of today, it's a 14. Much of Stendahl seems to have gotten lost, but the film still has a cogency that may be due to RR's increasing interest in making use of history to explore themes that go beyond mere incident and character. He was moving toward Louis xiv, and beyond.
Review of The Betrayer
