Film Review
What Ronald Reagan described as one of the most important espionage
cases of the Twentieth Century is vividly recounted in this slick Cold
War thriller from Christian Carion, the director who previously
dramatised another remarkable historical episode (the Christmas truce
of WWI) in
Joyeux Noël (2005).
Based on Serguei Kostine's book
Bonjour
Farewell,
L'Affaire Farewell
tells the story of KGB colonel Vladimir Vetrov (renamed Sergueï
Gregoriev in the film) who, having grown disillusioned with Soviet rule
under Brezhnev, chose to act as a mole for the French intelligence
service in the early 1980s. In this role, Vetrov equipped the West
with the means to neutralise Soviet intelligence gathering operations
and effectively break the balance of power. It was this that
allowed Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms to take root and ultimately bring
about the break up of the Soviet Union.
Those expecting a conventional spy thriller (with gadgets, guns and
interminable car chases) risk being disappointed by this film.
Carion's approach is more John Le Carré than James Bond.
His film focuses on the personalities involved and portrays espionage
as a dirty, dangerous and murky business, not the escapist nonsense
that we are more familiar with. This is not to say that the
film is dull. Its first half is particularly effective,
offering an absorbing character study that is intelligently
performed by Emir Kusturica and
Guillaume Canet, who are convincing as the dissident Soviet colonel and
the telecoms engineer who becomes a reluctant intermediary.
Kusturica and Canet are not only superb actors, but are also
well-regarded filmmakers. Kusturica's directorial offerings
include
Time of the Gypsies
(1988) and
Underground
(1995), whilst Canet's best known work to date is
Ne le dis à personne
(2006). French film aficionados will recall that Kusturica had a
leading role in Patrice Leconte's
La Veuve de Saint-Pierre
(2000). Kusturica and Canet complement each other perfectly, both
physically (the former towers over the latter like a giant bear) and
from the point of view of acting style. Whereas Kusturica is a
solid presence, perfectly suited for the role of the driven idealist,
Canet looks as if his backbone is made of jelly, not the character you
would expect to help to bring down an empire. It is the
subtle transformation which Canet's character undergoes in the course
of events that provides the film with its emotional and moral core. Gregoriev
and Pierre may initially appear to be complete
opposites yet, as their story unfolds, we realise they have many things
in common. Both are extremely complex individuals, loners who are
uncertain of themselves, uncertain in their beliefs, and yet driven by
a desire to prove themselves and take a stand against the flawed
systems in which fate has placed them.
After a promising beginning, the narrative begins to unravel a little as
attention shifts away from Gregoriev and Pierre's
exploits in Moscow and takes us in into the Oval Office and the
Elysée Palace. Now we are diverted to the uncomfortable
relationship between President Ronald Reagan and his French homologue,
François Mitterand. Reagan is suspicious not only of the
authenticity of the information that has been passed to the French
intelligence service but also of Mitterand himself, primarily because
the latter has appointed Communist ministers in his government.
What could have been an intelligent interplay between another pair of
complex and flawed individuals is reduced almost to the level of clumsy
political satire, with both Reagan and Mitterand portrayed as their
popularised caricatures. The laughably poor English dialogue
does not help matters, even when it is delivered by such capable actors
as (wait for it) David Soul. You almost expect Reagan to whip out a
lasso and hop out to round up a posse; luckily, all we get is the former
actor bemoaning the fact that he never got to work with John Ford (if he had,
history may have taken a very different course...).
L'Affaire Farewell is worth
watching for the story it has to tell but its flaws are hard to miss
and undermine some of its stronger points. Had the film
concentrated on the relationship and personal journey of the two
main protagonists and spent less time dragging us down rather
pointless digressions (including an irrelevant scene involving Mikhail Gorbachev and
a half-hearted attack on the double standards of the CIA), it
would undoubtedly have much greater impact. Carion's
casual appropriation of the familiar spy thriller motifs in the scenes leading up to the
predictable denouement is also
to be regretted, although the film is massively redeemed by
the central performances from Emir Kusturica and Guillaume Canet.
The film is far from perfect but, thanks to it two leading actors, it is intensely compelling,
and a fitting tribute to the two anonymous individuals who helped to bring about
the end of the Cold War, more by accident than by design.
© James Travers 2010
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Next Christian Carion film:
Une hirondelle a fait le printemps (2001)