Saboteur (1942)

Second viewing; first seen on February 5, 1989.

During World War II, a man is wrongfully accused of sabotage of a aeroplane factory. While hiding from the police, he tries to locate the real culprit and in the process uncovers a sabotage ring.

Entertaining thriller. Much of it is propaganda, but ultimately it sends the wrong message by implying that one should trust a suspect of sabotage just because one's "instinct" says he's innocent. Of course the correct message would be to simply hand matters over to the police. Perhaps the film reflects a mistrust of that institution at that time, or maybe they were only thinking on how to give some length to the plot. The film's patriotic speeches are mostly quite awkward or downright hilarious, such as when the opposing sides of the War are identified as, respectively, Love and Hate. Despite being marred by its simplistic politics, Saboteur does not do badly overall, and I had a fairly good time watching it. Taken as a cinematic dream, it is just an expression of subjectivity and thus obeys its logic, which is one of desire, fear, etc. As is sometimes the case with films, Saboteur's frequent incursions into absurdity are perhaps part of its oneiric charm.

Rating: 55 (up from 49)