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The Spider’s Stratagem (1970) movie poster

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The Spider’s Stratagem (1970) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Release, runtime and language
1970 · 100 mins · Italian
Directed by
Bernardo Bertolucci
Starring
Alida Valli, Giulio Brogi, Tino Scotti, Pippo Campanini, Franco Giovanelli, Allen Midgette

Returning to his rural hometown, a young man sets out to uncover the murky details of his father's death—officially blamed on Fascists in 1936, before the son was born. As he pieces together a tangled network of deception that permeates the entire community, he becomes caught in the very web he is trying to expose.

On this page (6)
  1. 1 Events in order (12)
  2. 2 Timeline questions answered
  3. 3 Movie threads
  4. 4 Movies like The Spider’s Stratagem
  5. 5 Categories
  6. 6 Every angle

12 events in order · contains spoilers

The Spider’s Stratagem Timeline: Events in Chronological Order

Every key event of The Spider’s Stratagem (1970) in order, scene by scene, with when and where it takes place. Use it to untangle flashbacks, time jumps and parallel storylines, to refresh your memory before the sequel or to find the exact scene you are thinking of.

  1. Athos arrives in Tara

    Athos Magnani arrives by train in the town of Tara, stepping into a place that looks backward at his father’s memory. The locals already speak of his father as a resistance hero, shaping the town’s mood around him. The very air hints that the past here is a living myth.

    Where
    Tara
  2. Draifa reaches out

    Draifa, the father’s longtime mistress, contacts him after recognizing his photo in a newspaper and asks him to come. She claims to hold key information about his father’s death and urges him to uncover the truth. Her message drags him into a dangerous inquiry.

    When
    shortly after arrival
    Where
    Tara
  3. The town's myth and the statue

    The town’s myth is reinforced by a statue of his father in the square, around which gatherings and rumors cluster. People insist he was a resistance hero and that his murder was the work of unknown fascists. The statue becomes both shrine and excuse to keep the truth buried.

    Where
    Tara square
  4. Foretelling and warning

    Athos learns that a fortune teller predicted his father’s death days before it happened, and an unopened letter warned him not to proceed. The omens haunt his search for answers and complicate his sense of duty. He begins to wonder if fate itself is complicit in the town’s myths.

    When
    days before father's death
    Where
    Tara
  5. Evasive inquiries

    His enquiries about the death are met with evasions and hostility from locals who protect the official version. He feels increasingly isolated as doors close and faces avoidant glances. The climate of fear signals that the truth is being carefully kept hidden.

    Where
    Tara
  6. Three conspirators reveal the plan

    Three acquaintances of his father tell him the plan was to blow up Mussolini in the local theatre during a performance of Rigoletto. They claim the mission failed and his father was betrayed to the police. Athos cannot accept that version, sensing deceit behind the betrayal.

    When
    days before father's death
    Where
    Tara
  7. The Theatre revelation

    Athos goes to the theatre and hears Rigoletto’s music, stepping into the same scene that supposedly sealed his father’s fate. The conspirators insist the bombing did not go ahead because of fear and a conspiracy among the conspirators. They claim he cooperated with police, not fascists, leading to his death.

    When
    present
    Where
    Local theatre
  8. Ceremony and halted confession

    At a ceremony in front of his father’s statue, Athos begins to recount the true story but stops. He realizes that the town needs a heroic myth to maintain order and pride. The moment reveals the conflict between truth and communal memory.

    When
    present
    Where
    Tara square
  9. Decision to leave

    Resolving to leave the claustrophobic town, Athos rejects the notion that the truth can ever be fully told. He senses that staying will only deepen the myth and his entanglement within it. The choice marks a turning point toward escape rather than revelation.

    When
    present
    Where
    Tara
  10. Railway station and rusted tracks

    At the railway station, announcements of late trains echo the delays in uncovering the truth. Athos looks at the rusted, overgrown tracks and feels how the past has become physically stuck. The station becomes a symbol of his entanglement with the town’s secret.

    When
    present
    Where
    Tara railway station
  11. Caught in the web of myth

    The more he searches for clarity, the more the town’s memory reshapes itself around him. The line between hero and traitor blurs, and his own future feels tethered to a story that refuses to yield. He stands at a crossroads with no clear exit.

    When
    present
    Where
    Tara
  12. The unresolved truth lingers

    Even as he contemplates departure, the truth remains elusive and the legend persists. The town’s memory continues to envelop him, suggesting that some endings are never truly written. He walks away with more questions than answers, leaving the mystery intact.

    Where
    Tara

Last updated: October 09, 2025 at 14:03

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Timeline questions answered

The Spider’s Stratagem Timeline Explained: Your Questions Answered

When does it happen, and why in that order? The questions people ask about the chronology of The Spider’s Stratagem (1970): time jumps, flashbacks, cause and effect between scenes and the correct order of events, each answered with spoilers.

Q1

Why does Draifa ask Athos to investigate his father's death?

Draifa was the longtime mistress of Athos Magnani Sr. After spotting a newspaper photo of the younger Athos, she reached out to him because she believed he had a right to know the truth about his father's death. She claimed to hold key information and urged him to uncover what really happened in 1936, suggesting the official fascist story was a cover-up.

  • draifa
  • mistress
  • father death
  • investigation
  • truth
Q2

What was the plan involving Mussolini at the theatre?

Three acquaintances of Athos Sr. revealed that he had planned to blow up Benito Mussolini during a performance of Verdi's Rigoletto at the local theatre. The bombing never took place because fear and betrayal among the conspirators prevented the plan from being carried out. The elder Magnani was reportedly betrayed to the police as a result.

  • mussolini
  • rigoletto
  • theatre
  • bombing
  • conspiracy
  • resistance
Q3

Why did Athos Magnani really die in 1936?

The official story claimed fascists killed Athos Sr. for his resistance activities. However, the three conspirators gave a different account: the elder Magnani died as a result of the failed bombing plot's tangled loyalties. They suggested he may have cooperated with police rather than facing execution as a pure resistance hero, making his death a consequence of his own involvement rather than straightforward fascist brutality.

  • athos magnani
  • death cause
  • police
  • betrayal
  • fascists
Q4

What was the warning letter found on his father's corpse?

An unopened letter was found on Athos Sr.'s body, warning him not to go ahead. The letter's ominous tone resembled a Shakespearean warning, like the prophecies in Macbeth or Julius Caesar, suggesting someone knew in advance that danger awaited him. This detail adds to the sense of fate and foreboding that haunts the younger Athos's investigation.

  • warning letter
  • prophecy
  • fate
  • shakespeare
Q5

Why does the town insist Athos Magnani was a resistance hero?

The town needs a heroic myth to maintain its identity and pride. During the ceremony in the square, Athos begins to tell the true story but stops because he realizes exposing the full truth would unravel the carefully constructed narrative that binds the community together. The statue in the square serves as both a shrine and a tool to keep the messy reality buried.

Foreshadowing: The town's myth is reinforced early by the statue in the square and the locals' unified insistence on the heroic version.

  • town myth
  • statue
  • hero
  • memory
  • community
  • truth
Q6

Why does Athos decide to leave Tara without uncovering the full truth?

Athos realizes the town's myth is a trap that binds him as surely as any chain. The truth remains elusive because the community actively protects the heroic narrative. He understands that staying will only deepen his entanglement in a story that sustains itself by refusing to confront its contradictions. He chooses escape over an unwinnable battle for truth.

  • departure
  • escape
  • truth
  • myth
  • leave tara
Q7

What do the rusted railway tracks at the end represent?

The rusted, overgrown tracks symbolize how the past has literally and figuratively stuck in Tara. Trains arrive increasingly late, mirroring the delays in uncovering truth. The station becomes a physical manifestation of Athos's entanglement, he cannot easily leave, and the path forward is obstructed by the weight of history and myth that surrounds him.

  • railway
  • tracks
  • symbolism
  • stuck
  • past
  • delay
Q8

What did the fortune teller predict about Athos Magnani's father?

A fortune teller predicted the elder Magnani's death days before it happened. This prophecy echoes through the town's stories, adding a layer of fate and inevitability to the narrative. Along with the unopened warning letter, the prophecy creates a sense that the father's death was foretold, complicating the younger Athos's search for human causes and motivations.

  • fortune teller
  • prophecy
  • fate
  • prediction
  • death
Q9

Why is the theatre and Rigoletto music significant in the film?

The theatre is central because it's where the planned assassination of Mussolini was supposed to occur during a performance of Rigoletto. The opera's aria accompanies Athos's search, linking the stage with a community that protects myth over truth. The theatre becomes both a literal location of the failed plot and a symbolic space where the town's memory is performed and maintained.

  • theatre
  • rigoletto
  • opera
  • mussolini
  • assassination plot
Q10

Was Athos Magnani a hero or did he betray the resistance?

The film leaves this question deliberately ambiguous. The conspirators suggest he may have cooperated with police, leading to his death, which would make him a traitor rather than a martyr. However, Athos cannot fully trust their account. The truth exists somewhere between courage and cowardice, and the town's need for a heroic narrative prevents any definitive answer.

  • hero
  • traitor
  • resistance
  • betrayal
  • ambiguity
  • truth

Movie threads

More Movies Like The Spider’s Stratagem, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes The Spider’s Stratagem tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Movies like The Spider’s Stratagem about unraveling political lies

Where investigating a past political mystery reveals a corrosive web of deception. If you liked the slow, melancholic investigation in The Spider’s Stratagem, you'll appreciate these films. They feature characters uncovering buried political secrets and community deceptions, often set in atmospheric, claustrophobic towns, where the past is a carefully maintained lie.

  • atmospheric
  • melancholic
  • mysterious
  • reflective
  • oppressive
  • haunting
  • Tone: melancholic, reflective
  • Pacing: slow, deliberate
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative typically centers on an outsider or returning figure investigating a long-buried event. As they question the official story, they encounter resistance and obfuscation from a tight-knit community, gradually realizing that the truth is not just hidden but has been replaced by a more convenient, but corrosive, lie that everyone upholds.

Why they belong together: These films are grouped by their shared focus on a deliberate, atmospheric investigation into a constructed past. They share a melancholic tone, a slow, reflective pace, and a profound sense of ambiguity, where the quest for truth leads not to clarity but to a deeper entrapment within the myth itself.

Movies with a claustrophobic small-town atmosphere like The Spider’s Stratagem

Stories where the setting itself becomes a psychological trap of secrets. For viewers who appreciated the oppressive, small-town vibe of The Spider’s Stratagem. These films capture a similar feeling of a community bound by silence and secrets, where the atmosphere is thick with unspoken truths and the journey leads to a heavy, ambiguous sense of entrapment.

  • claustrophobic
  • oppressive
  • atmospheric
  • haunting
  • mysterious
  • melancholic
  • Tone: oppressive, melancholic
  • Pacing: slow, atmospheric
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative journey is one of entering a seemingly quiet, defined world that gradually reveals itself to be a gilded cage. The protagonist's quest for answers is met with the immovable weight of the environment and its inhabitants, culminating not in escape but in a realization of their own inescapable connection to the place's corrupted fabric.

Why they belong together: They are united by a masterful use of atmosphere to create a palpable sense of place that is both haunting and confining. The shared experience is one of slow-burn psychological unease, where the mood is melancholic, the pacing is deliberate, and the emotional weight stems from the protagonist's futile struggle against an enveloping, deceptive environment.

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Categories

Movie Lists Featuring The Spider’s Stratagem

The Spider’s Stratagem appears in these hand-built movie categories. Each one groups movies by a specific mood, theme or story type, with their plot summaries and endings explained.

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Every angle

The Spider’s Stratagem (1970) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

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