A MOST unlikely, though apparently largely true, tale of espionage is detailed with impressive lucidity in this engrossing French drama from the director of Joyeux Noël. The film is let down by some rather clunky representations of the statesmen of the time, but fans of John Le Carré and The Lives of Othersshould gobble it up.
In the early 1980s, a high-ranking KGB analyst who is disillusioned by the corruption of the Communist ideal elects to pass secrets to western powers. Sergei Grigoriev wants neither money nor prestige. His only aim is to trigger change in the Soviet Union.
His conduit is Pierre Froment, a French engineer working in Moscow. Froment is reluctant to become involved, until he realises the significance of the documents. He cautiously elects to pass them on to French intelligence.
At this point, Franco-US relations are entering a state of crisis. François Mitterrand has just been elected and, to the dismay of President Ronald Reagan, the socialist has several communist ministers in his cabinet. Even so, the Americans, persuaded that the material is not chicken feed, eventually elect to play along.
With two prominent film directors in the lead roles here – Guillaume Canet as Froment, Emir Kusturica as Grigoriev – director Christian Carion does a fine job of teasing out the tensions and compromises that plague the men.
Froment never asked for the job and he has a hard time convincing his wife he is cut out for amateur espionage. Grigoriev, whose family is riven by disharmony, works hard at justifying his own betrayal.
When the Frenchman sneers at his contact’s still simmering Communist beliefs, Grigoriev points out that, in the four decades succeeding 1917, the country went from medieval servitude to placing a man in space.
Such nuanced drama is, however, let down by the frequent, ludicrous cuts to the White House. Yes, I'm afraid that an overly caricatured Reagan (a competent Fred Ward) really is shown watching cowboy movies in his spare time. For all its flaws, however, Farewellis a gripping piece of work.
