At the beginning of the movie a pharmacist receives an anonymous letter that threatens him of death. And the murder actually happens. Seems very simple but nothing is what it seems and the journey to the truth will be long and difficult. The book is excellent and the movie is at par with it and very faithful to the romance. Great direction. Incredible cast with Gabriele Ferzetti in his best interpretation together with the one in "C'era una volta il West" and Gianmaria Volonté simply beyond reach as always. Many other great actors. Yes I am an enthusiast 'cause there's not a word or a shot out of place in this movie and the plot is ingenious. Who is going to see this film for the first time will be taken away by the developments (the pace seems to be calm but looking in between the kinks you may realize that many things are going rapidly on). Trying to figure out what is the kernel of the happenings and the "reasons" for the murder is a very interesting exercise but it's highly unlikely for the spectator not to experience a big surprise at the end. In my opinion Elio Petri at his best (I mean at the same level of his other masterwork: La classe operaia va in Paradiso).</p>...
爱达荷州普林斯顿高中生拿破仑（乔恩•海德 Jon Heder 饰）是个衰蛋，带着厚厚的眼镜，不酷不帅，还总是搞怪。他和奶奶以及失业的哥哥凯普相依为命。他在学校不受同学待见，还经常被老师修理。他不合群，只能孤独地跟风车球使劲儿。后来，他结识了同学佩德罗（艾弗连•莱米雷斯 Efren Ramirez 饰），两人成了朋友。在佩德罗参加学生会主席竞选时，拿破仑贡献了自己的力量。一次，拿破仑在家扮沙发土豆时，有女孩黛比（蒂娜•米乔里诺 Tina Majorino 饰）上门推销。他于是对这个女孩产生了好感，但是没有勇气追求，只能想出一些拙劣的鬼点子，结果总是不欢而散。凯普看电视购物，被防身术教练深深吸引了，拉着拿破仑两人参加了俱乐部，没想到大失所望……...
彼得（弗雷德里克·劳 Frederick Lau 饰）和名为莉斯贝丝（亨丽埃特·肯夫里乌斯 Henriette Confurius 饰）是一对非常相爱的情侣，然而，莉斯贝丝是出生在富贵家庭的千金大小姐，而彼得则是一穷二白的无名小卒，两人的感情自然而然遭到了莉斯贝丝家族的强烈反对。为了能够在短时间内获得大量的财富，彼得决定和魔鬼迈克尔（莫里兹·布雷多 Moritz Bleibtreu 饰）做一个交易，用自己的真心去换取财富。
虽然彼得有钱了，但他变成了一个冷酷无情的人，因此失去了莉斯贝丝对自己的爱，知道这时，彼得才发现自己被魔鬼骗了。为了重新获得莉斯贝丝的爱，彼得必须再去找迈克尔，这一次，他要换回的，是自己的真心。</p>...
