Farewell(2009 film)

Farewell(French:L'affaire Farewell;literallyThe Farewell Affair) is a 2009 French espionagethriller filmdirected byChristian Carion,starringGuillaume CanetandEmir Kusturica.The film is loosely based on the actions of the high-ranking KGB official,Vladimir Vetrov.It was released in the United States in June 2010.It was adapted from the bookBonjour Farewell: La vérité sur la taupe française du KGB(1997) by Serguei Kostine.

Farewell
United States theatrical poster
Directed by	Christian Carion
Written by	Christian Carion
Produced by	Philip Boëffard Bertrand Faivre Christophe Rossignon
Starring	Guillaume Canet Emir Kusturica Alexandra Maria Lara Willem Dafoe Fred Ward
Cinematography	Walther Vanden Ende
Edited by	Andrea Sedlácková
Music by	Clint Mansell
Production company	Canal+
Distributed by	Pathé
Release dates	September 4, 2009(2009-09-04)(Telluride) September 23, 2009(2009-09-23)(France)
Running time	113 minutes
Country	France
Languages	French Russian English
Budget	$21 million
Box office	$7.4 million

The movie was filmed in Ukraine and Finland because Russia refused to provide a permit for filming in Moscow. AReutersnews item also stated that the Russian government "dissuaded Russian movie actor Sergei Makovetsky and Russian producer and director Nikita Mikhalkov from participating in the film" (according to the director).

Plot

In the early 1980s, a high-rankingKGBanalyst, Sergei Grigoriev, disillusioned with theSovietregime, decides to pass Soviet secrets, including a list of their spies, to the government of France, then under the newly elected PresidentFrançois Mitterrand,aSocialistin coalition with theCommunist Party.Grigoriev (code-namedFarewellby theFrench intelligence service) hopes to force change in the Soviet Union by revealing their extensive network of spies trying to acquire scientific, technical and industrial information from the West. He uses Pierre Froment, a naïve French engineer based inMoscow,as his unlikely intermediary. After the first transfer of information, Pierre confides in his wife Jessica, who is adamant about his stopping this activity in order to safeguard their family. Grigoriev persuades Pierre to continue without telling Jessica. He will accept neither money nordefectionas a reward, but sometimes requests small gifts from Pierre's trips to France, such as aSony WalkmanandQueencassette tapes for his son, somecognac,or books of French poetry. As Farewell's prodigious output blossoms, the French are bewildered by the sheer scale and yield of top Western technology transferred covertly to the Soviets.

Under suspicion that he is not a trustworthy ally, Mitterrand personally hands U.S. PresidentRonald Reaganadossier of invaluable Farewell dataduring theOttawa G7 summit.The Americans are astounded with it and other information provided by Farewell, culminating in the full "List X"of Soviet spies within the highest echelons of the Western scientific and industrial apparatus. They embark on an ambitious plan to feed the Soviets erroneous or defective data; shortly afterwards, the network of Soviet technology spies in the West is rolled up, and Reagan announces the"Star Wars" antimissile shield project.Deprived of hi-tech information from the West, and with their own laboratories falling behind, the Soviet leadership panics. Seeing this desperate impasse for what it is,Mikhail Gorbachev,then an upwards-mobile party official, starts preparing the reform policies he is to pursue in the future.

Grigoriev's superior, adouble agentfor theCIA,is directed by them to sacrifice Grigoriev and save the Froments, all unbeknownst to the French. Grigoriev, under arrest and KGB interrogation, plays dumb to give the Froments time to escape. They cover their tracks and flee by car to theFinnish border.While inWest Germanyfor debriefing, Pierre pleads with theCIA Directorto save Grigoriev, praising his integrity and selflessness. The director refuses as a policy principle, having brought the other agent to the West. Grigoriev is granted his request of execution by a marksman on the jetty of the snow-clad lake he loves. Pierre is later offered a company job inManhattan.

Cast

• Emir Kusturicaas Sergei Grigoriev (the character based on Vetrov)
• Guillaume Canetas Pierre Froment, an engineer working in the Moscow branch of French electronics conglomerateThomson-CSF
• Alexandra Maria Laraas Jessica Froment, Pierre's wife
• Willem Dafoeas Feeney, Director of theCentral Intelligence Agency
• Fred Wardas U.S. PresidentRonald Reagan
• Philippe Magnan as PresidentFrançois Mitterrandof France
• Niels Arestrupas Vallier, Director of theDST
• David Soulas Hutton, aide to President Reagan
• Ingeborga Dapkunaiteas Natasha, Grigoriev's wife
• Dina Korzunas Alina, a colleague and mistress that Grigoriev is having an affair with
• Yevgeni Vasilyevich Kharlanov as Igor, the Grigorievs' rebellious son
• Christian Sandström asFederal Bureau of Investigationagent
• Diane Kruger,Benno Fürmann,Gary LewisandAlex Ferns,amongst others, have cameos.

Reception

Onreview aggregatorRotten Tomatoes,the film holds an approval rating of 86% based on 77 reviews, with an average rating of 7.06/10.OnMetacritic,the film has a weighted average score of 74 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

See also

• Farewell Dossier

Further reading

• Thomas C. Reed,At the Abyss: An Insider’s History of the Cold War(2004)
• Sergei Kostin and Eric Raynaud,Adieu Farewell(Laffont, Paris, 2009, in French); "Farewell" (AmazonCrossing, Aug. 2011, in English). First complete investigation of the Farewell Dossier and its international impact.
• Michel Louyot,Le Violon de neige(Publibook, Paris, 2008; soon to be available in English).

External links

• FarewellatIMDb
• Screendaily.com review(in English)
• Bluefat review(in English)
• The interviews with Director and actors