Scorpio (1973)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1973
	Director: Michael Winner (Death Wish 1-3)
	Actors: Burt Lancaster (Airport, The Island of Dr. Moreau), Alain Delon (3 hommes à abattre, Pour la peau d'un flic), Paul Scofield
	Country: USA
	Genre: Polar
	Conditions of visioning: 24.05.2020, Full HD, 14" computer screen.
Synopsis: Back from a mission in Paris, CIA operative Cross (Lancaster) and his partner Scorpio (Delon) are trailed, but don't want to report to the Agency.
Review: I am currently in the mood for 70's movies after watching Death Wish with Charles Bronson. The same director led me to this Scorpio which I thought I had heard about. Its peculiarity is that it stars two monsters of Cinema at the time, like there were in that period: Burt Lancaster in the USA and Alain Delon in France and a bit abroad. It is interesting that like their characters, one is at the end of his career while the other is about to reach the top. This cast doesn't lead to a fight of egos like I was expecting, although they do get all the screen time. The story is one like we don't see nowadays, one taking place during the Cold War and when the memory of WWII was still warm. And the depiction of spies from that time was not the same as we see now in any Mission: Impossible. In this movie the CIA seems all-powerful, while leaving a lot of freedom to mini-leaders in the Organization to fight their own wars, like is the case with this McLeod who wants the main characters dead. The motivation of everybody is a bit obscure, making the movie hard to follow (also because of many names not well introduced). The movie is ambitious, taking place in as many locations as Paris, Washington and Vienna. And it tries to make the characters relatable. It is good-looking in general, but in the end I found it too confused to me. Scorpio leaves many things unexplained to strengthen the Mystery, but this left me uninterested.
Rating: 4 /10