Der Marquis - der Mann, der sich verkaufen wollte

An eccentric marquis, weary of his situation and motivated by a private reason, makes a shocking deal with a stranger to be killed within six months. After some time he meets a woman and the motive for arranging his death evaporates, so he decides to find the man he hired and cancel the bargain. His search doesn't go as planned, and the pursuit flips into something strange and threatening. The would-be victim becomes the aggressor, chasing his supposed killer through a maze of mystery and shifting loyalties, while the film keeps its principal twists under wraps and leans into atmosphere and psychological tension.

Released in 1965, Der Marquis - der Mann, der sich verkaufen wollte was directed by Niels Larsen and features O.W. Fischer, Christiane Maybach and Fernando Rey. The screenplay adapts an obscure literary concept into a European cold-war era thriller mood.

Box office records for the film are scarce, and it did not achieve major commercial recognition. Contemporary release appears to have earned limited attention outside German-speaking markets, leaving the picture largely obscure in later international box office tallies records overall.

The film never reached wide fame, but its premise of selling one's life for a time has been noted by genre aficionados. Select critics have referenced its eerie atmosphere and casting, and cinephiles in Europe occasionally cite it when discussing peculiar 1960s thrillers and moral ambiguity in cinema beyond nostalgia.

Critical response has been mixed to negative, with low ratings from modern databases and sparse contemporary reviews. Viewers note themes of existential boredom, contractual morality and shifting identity, while praise often goes to performances by O.W. Fischer and Fernando Rey, even as pacing and direction divide opinion among cineastes today.