Loosely based on Honoré de Balzac's 1830s novel 'L'Histoire des
Treize', this film recounts the exploits of a secret society consisting
of thirteen men, transposed to Paris in 1970. Several individuals
and groups of individuals who have no obvious connection are presented
to us. We overhear snatches of conversations that merely add to
the mystery. Finally, it emerges that these are all pieces in a
jigsaw puzzle, each having a connection to the mysterious secret
society...
Franz Kafka's letters to his fiancée Felice Bauer not only reveal a soul in torment; they also give us a harrowing self-portrait of a man appalled by his own existence.
In the 1940s, the shadowy, skewed visual style of 1920s German expressionism was taken up by directors of American thrillers and psychological dramas, creating that distinctive film noir look.
Continental Films, quality cinema under the Nazi Occupation
At the time of the Nazi Occupation of France during WWII, the German-run company Continental produced some of the finest films made in France in the 1940s.