|
|
Farewell (L'affaire Farewell) (M) 109 mins
Rating Advice:Mature themes and infrequent coarse language
Opening:1 July 2010
Genre:Thriller
Origin:France
Language:French, English, Russian
Subtitles:English
Director:Christian Carion
Cast:Emir Kusturica, Guillaume Canet, Alexandra Maria Lara
Distributor:Hopscotch Films
Awards:
 |
**** 4 stars!.. David Stratton [ABC] |
 |
|
Official Selection Seattle, Toronto, Telleride Film Festivals |
|
Synopsis:
In the vein of The lives of others (Das leben der anderen) and based on an incredible true story, Farewell (L'affaire Farewell) is an espionage film about events that changed history.
In 1981, Colonel Gregoriev (Emir Kusturica) of the KGB, disenchanted with the Communist ideal, decides he is going to change the world. Discreetly, he makes contact with Pierre (Guillaume Canet), a French engineer working in Moscow and little by little passes on documents to him - mainly concerning the United States - containing information which would constitute the most important Cold War espionage operation known to date. During a period of two years, French President, François Mitterrand (Philippe Magnan) and US chief Ronald Reagan (Fred Ward) were to personally vet the documents supplied by this source in Moscow, to whom the French Secret Service gave the codename Farewell.
Farewell smuggled out information that would cause ructions that sounded the death bell of the Soviet Union. The Berlin Wall would fall before the end of the 80s. In his own way, Farewell managed to change the world, by avoiding traditional espionage methods too well known to the KGB and by not asking for any financial compensation whatsoever, 'much too capitalist' for his taste. He simply followed his destiny, so that a new world might dawn for his fellow Russians, but especially for his son.
|
