Farewell (Friday, July 23, 2010) (81)

Farewell was the codename the French intelligence service gave to a Frenchman living in Moscow in the early 1980s. This guy made contact with a disillusioned KGB general (Gregoriev)who felt that his country was headed in the wrong direction. Gregoriev began giving Farewell documents about the KGB spy apparatus in the West, who in turn passed them on the the CIA. At some point it became clear that Farewell and Gregoriev and their families were in some amount of danger. As an electrical engineer by trade, Farewell was never trained in proper protocols of espionage, so he made several mistakes.

I generally think that French filmmakers don't make good Hollywood-style action films and this doesn't do much to change my mind about that feeling. It is interesting that it's based on a true story (something that I had never heard of), but it is rather dull and slow-moving, as if it was a typical French drama.

Gregoriev is played by the great Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica. I know that he has acted before in things I've seen, but I don't think he's ever had such a big role. I think he's great. He's totally believable as a Russian communist who did believe in the Bolshevik dream, but now sees how repressive and counterproductive the Soviet regime is. He drinks, he screws, he has a loving family and adores his thoroughly modern teenage son. For me, Kusturica is one of the best things about the film. He lights up the screen and is a total natural (I hope he continues to act more).

The story is rather typical, even if it is real. There's not all that much intrigue here. OK - so it's a spy movie, that there are people following you and tapping your phone is totally typical, not specifically interesting.

Director and writer/adapter Christian Carion does a good job with the material (the film is totally harmless and good), but doesn't stretch very much. I think Farewell and Gregoriev might have been super important people in world history, but I never really see here how what they did is more important than any other spies in the world. I am told throughout the film that what they did was very impactful, but I never get a real visceral sense of this. I trust what I am told, but I wish I could have *see* it specifically.

Stars: 2 of 4