Albania's answer to Tinker Tailor, except everyone's sweating and the paranoia is government-mandated.
A State Security officer, Kreshnik Martini, infiltrates the ranks of an agent network sent to operate in Albania and gathers information about all of its activities. The film is based on a true counterintelligence case in which, in 1953, Albanian authorities managed to uncover a network that aimed to overthrow the government
Acting
Llazi Sërbo's eyes do all the talking.
Direction
Fejzo turns bureaucratic dread into genuine tension.
Director
Muharrem Fejzo
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Albanian cinema's rare commercial hit during the Hoxha era, when most films were pure propaganda. The 'true case' framing let it slip past censors while still being genuinely tense.
The real 1953 operation was CIA-backed, part of Project BG/FIEND to infiltrate anti-communist agents into Albania. The film obviously omits this entirely.
AL
