Garbo: The Spy

Edmon Roch's Garbo the Spy is an engrossing documentary that is itself largely a work of the director's imagination.

He was so good at his job he was awarded an honorary knighthood by the British and the Iron Cross II by the Nazis. Talk about playing both sides!

Takes a fittingly inventive approach to the story of an operative whose MI5 code name reflected his supreme talents as an actor.

Some of this footage feels like filler, but Roch's concept is strong: He's creating a dialogue between the fictions Pujol created to help win the war and the fictions Hollywood created to memorialize that victory.

The story told in Garbo: The Spy is so outlandish that you almost feel as if you're watching a mockumentary. But it appears to be entirely true.

Using a whirlwind of archival footage, maps, and split screens, Edmon Roch conveys Juan Pujol Garcia's reign as Europe's premiere spy in a constantly fluid fashion, aesthetically mimicking his crafty and cagey nature.

The jarring juxtapositions only heighten the enigmatic air of the film's subject; even when he's right in front of us, he seems to be plotting his next wily act.