Description
Based on a true story that has come to light only recently, this riveting Cold War drama starts in 1981 and focuses on two men: Pierre (Guillaume Canet), a French engineer working in Moscow, and Grigoriev (Emir Kusturica), a KGB officer who single-mindedly decides to bring down the Soviet Union. Pierre is reluctant to serve as a "mule" for top-secret intelligence, but when information from Farewell (Grigoriev's French code name) exposes networks of KGB agents working in France and the US, it lands on the desk of French President François Mitterand (Philippe Magnan), who shares it with Ronald Reagan (Fred Ward). Director Christian Carion (Oscar-nominated Merry Christmas) nails vivid period and location details, and he draws strong performances from his leads who, incidentally, are film directors themselves: Kusturica (terrific as "Farewell") is celebrated for such films as Time of the Gypsies and Black Cat, White Cat, and Canet, while a popular star in France, also directed the hit thriller Tell No One. In French, Russian, English with English subtitles. With Willem Dafoe, Alexandra Maria Lara, David Soul. Director: Christian Carion. (France 2009) 112 min.
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