Gerhard Stoltz I had some previous knowledge of the Farewell-affair, so i came in knowing pretty much what to expect. On the whole they seemed to pull it off pretty well. The one thing that did grate me though were the scenes with Ronald Reagan in them. The acting and dialogue in those are way under par for the movie and seriously impacted my enjoyment of the rest of it.But yeah. If you want the reverse Snowden then this is the movie for you. The pacing is all right. It is not horribly complicated, as far as spy thrillers go.A tense dropoff here, an escape here, some exposition of character motivation, some family drama, a whiff of secrecy and an outcome which is never in doubt.

SnoopyStyle It's 1981 in Moscow. Pierre Froment (Guillaume Canet) is low level French diplomat who meets Soviet colonel Sergei Gregoriev (Emir Kusturica). Sergei is dismissive of the young diplomat at first. He has a rebellious son at home. He wants to change the world, change the USSR, and sees himself as a patriot. He has an affair with a colleague. Mitterrand keeps the information closely guarded using the information as currency with American president Reagan. Sergei is given the code name 'Farewell'.Based on a book, this has the sound of truth and that's what so compelling. It's not a Bond movie or even a gritty convoluted spy thriller. The meetings are so mundane and so easy. It's not a movie high in tension except for the ending. This is a spy movie with the feel of the real world. It's about a flawed human being but he's never inhuman. There are many changes to the real story. All I know is that it has a sense of the real world.

hope less Farewell is a spy drama set in Moscow/Russia in the early 1980's. It stars Guillaume Canet and Emir Custarica, both noted directors in their own rights.It is based on real events with the basic story correct though the nature of the two leading characters and a few events are somewhat changed or omitted.The plot centres around the leaking of Russian intelligence to the French government. Sergei (Canet) works for the Russian secret service but has been recruited by (or volunteered to) the French government to pass intelligence data from his office. Sergei is doing this for purely moral reasons arguing that it will one day bring the system down and give his son a better future. His contact is a French engineer working in Moscow, Pierre, coerced in to helping by the French government and operating as Sergei's dropping point. The story develops around the personal relationship between Sergei and Pierre and also that of their families. Sergei is confident and casual but ultimately a little careless. While Pierre becomes paranoid and with his young family in tow begins to feel the stress.The data turns out to industrial espionage on everything from the Space Shuttle to the US defence strategy and even secret communication codes. When the American are shown the information by the French (in a neat piece of one-upmanship) it is only a matter of time before action has to be taken and lives are in danger.The pace is slow and constant and never flat. Tantalisingly delicate, a very light brush from the director allows the actors to communicate in manner rarely seen in Hollywood films. Similar with the cinematography which is used sparingly and always to accentuate the story. Watch out for the early scene where they first meet which simply says 'spies'. Then the scenes of northern Russia in winter.This is a very smart film with excellent understated performances from all the cast. Watch out for several more famous actors in cameo and small roles. Fred Ward playing Ronald Reagan looks positively weird though they get away with it.If you arrived here before viewing be sure, it is well worth watching. Spy Game plus.

Eumenides_0 Farewell is a movie in the grand tradition of European political filmmaking and Christian Carion is a noble successor of directors like Costa-Gavras, Elio Petri and Gillo Pontecorvo. His previous movie, Merry Christmas, brought humanity to the trenches of World War I and exposed the absurdity and hypocrisy of war. Farewell brings to life a forgotten episode of Cold War politics and espionage. Like in many political movies, Carion and his screenwriter, Eric Raynaud, start from facts. In this case they adapted Serguei Kostine's book Bonjour Farewell, about the real-life spy Vlamidir Vetrov, but most of the details were changed for dramatic effect.So we follow Sergei Gregoriev (Emir Kusturica), a high-ranking Soviet official with access to critical information, who starts passing confidential documents to the French secret services, the DTS, with the noble intention of causing a rupture in the Soviet regime. Sergei, codenamed Farewell (so the Russians will think he's working for the Americans and not the French), was once a sympathizer but now believes that the revolution has been betrayed and that Russia needs change.Working as a courier between Sergei and the DTS is Pierre (Guillaume Canet), a French engineer working and living in Moscow with his wife, Jessica (Alexandra Maria Lara), and two children. Pierre is chosen because he's basically a nobody: he keeps a low profile; the KGB barely know he exists; his record would be clean were it not for the fact that he's married to a woman from West Germany. As Jessica aptly puts it, he's no James Bond. That's why he's ideal for the role.As the documents that Sergei leaks grow in importance, the President Mitterrand (Philippe Magnan) informs President Reagan (Fred Ward in a short but good role) of a list of Russian spies working in the USA, and the CIA gets involved. As arrests are made and countermeasures implemented, the Soviets realize there's a traitor amongst them. Unbeknownst to Sergei and Pierre, a circle starts closing around them. Of course in a story where the players in the extremities are Reagan, Mitterrand and Gorbachev, it's the little people in the centre who'll get screwed.Farewell, in spite of very tense moments, could be a more exciting movie. Espionage, real espionage, is a dull, slow-moving, unphotogenic activity. It's basically just people taking photos of confidential documents, meeting at parks and subway stations, and maintaining deception for as long as possible, probably knowing, deep down in their minds, that sooner or later they'll get caught.So why watch this movie? For many reasons, the least of which is its insight into an era that may seem remote but that still shapes the world we live in. The Soviet Union ended less than twenty years ago and Carion's camera captures its everyday life very well: the queues for foods and supplies; the silent discontent; the monumental architecture and historical statues; the arbitrariness of power; the omnipresence of a tight network of surveillance and repression.Another reason, far more interesting, is the pleasure of watching Emir Kusturica's amazing performance. Who knew the director of Underground worked so well in front of a camera as behind one? He plays a difficult role because Sergei isn't an ideal hero. Although selfless in his work for the French – he refuses pay for his services -, although he works in behalf of his son, so that he may grow up in a better Russia, Sergei's personal life is self destructive. Engaged in an affair, he drifts apart from his wife; and for his son he's just a symbol of the authority that bans Queens music and other decadent Western culture. How easy it'd be if Sergei could just open himself up to him! But he can't for their safety, and Kusturica perfectly plays this man burdened with secrets, loving but unloved, with a melancholy and gravitas that never abandon his face even in rare moments of happiness.A final reason is the chemistry between Canet and Kusturica. The friendship and loyalty that grows between their characters constitutes the emotional core of the film. From their first meeting, inside a darkened car, it doesn't seem they'll get along. Sergei, aware of the importance of his work, initially feels slighted for working with an amateur. But they're similar souls. Pierre is a foreigner and Sergei, a Francophile, feels like a foreigner too. Pierre becomes his access to contraband – music, poetry, champagne. And for Sergei, who realizes the risks of treason, Pierre and his family become his responsibility.The narrative can be messy at times, even elliptical. Bits seem to be missing that could give more substance and clarity to the web of intrigue the secret agencies create to outsmart each other, and the movie could have explored further the moral consequences of the indifference the secret agencies show to the well-being of their agents. But the good performances just throw a blanket over these minor nuisances.Spoken in French, Russian and English, the movie also has performances by the always reliable Willem Dafoe and Niels Arestrup (remember César from A Prophet?), and even an unexpected cameo by Diane Kruger. A fine example of what international cinema should be, Farewell succeeds thanks to the cast's exceptional talent and the harrowing emotions that run through the narrative up until the inevitable conclusion in this story of, power, trust and oppression.