Directed by Christian Carion
The cold war was a time when Russia and America were competing for supremacy by building bigger and better weapons, blasting rockets into space and infiltrating each other’s organisations with spies. We have since found out that is was a time when more money was spent on industrial espionage than on research and covert operations were often well-documented by the opposition. The basis for this film is the book Bonjour Farewell by Serguei Kostine that revealed an operation which was ignored by all the spy networks and eventually contributed to the collapse of Russia as a super power.
It took place in Moscow in the early 1980s, when a disenchanted KGB agent, Gregoriev (Emir Kusturica) decided to leak information to a French engineer who had never engaged in any sort of espionage, but happened to be working in Moscow. Gregoriev code-named the operation Farewell and regularly met with Pierre (Guillaume Canet) over a number of years. The men became friends and Gregoriev shared that his hopes for his son’s future was the reason for wanting the current regime in Russia to be dismantled. Pierre eventually realised that the information he was receiving was very important when the French and American presidents (Mitterrand and Regan) became involved.
Documentary footage sets the mood of the time and there is some priceless footage of Freddie Mercury prancing around in his white shorts singing We are the Champions as Gregoriev’s son Igor imitates him. There are some light moments as the film develops into a suspenseful espionage thriller without car chases or shoot-outs (except for Regan’s nostalgic look at his film star past). Private double-dealings add to the tension as the events speed up to the eventual end – that there is no change without sacrifice. This little-known story shows the difference individuals can make, even to superpowers.
Lezly Herbert
