After the war, Malaparte's political sympathies veered to the left and he became a member of the Italian Communist Party. In 1947, Malaparte settled in Paris and wrote dramas without much success. His play "Du Côté de chez Proust" was based on the life of Marcel Proust and "Das Kapital" was a portrait of Karl Marx. "Cristo Proibito" ("Forbidden Christ") was Malaparte's moderately successful film—which he wrote, directed and scored in 1950. It won the "City of Berlin" special prize at the 1st Berlin International Film Festival in 1951. In the story, a war veteran returns to his village to avenge the death of his brother, shot by the Germans. It was released in the United States in 1953 as "Strange Deception" and voted among the five best foreign films by the National Board of Review.