Farewell

2009 | France | NR | 113 min.

Showings

Bijou by the Bay Thu, Jul 27, 2017 12:00 PM
Bijou by the Bay Sun, Jul 30, 2017 9:00 AM
Film Info
Section:Foreign Fiction
Original Title:L'affaire Farewell
Release Year:2009
Runtime:113 min.
Rating:NR
Production Country:France
Original Language:French
German
Subtitles:English
Cast/Crew Info
Director:Christian Carion
Produced by:Bertrand Faivre
Philip Boëffard
Christophe Rossignon
Screenwriter:Christian Carion
Eric Raynaud
Cinematography:Walther van den Ende
Editing By:Andrea Sedlàckovà
Cast:Guillaume Canet
Emir Kusturica
Alexandra Maria Lara
Ingeborga Dapkunaite
Philippe Magnan

Description

This cold-war thriller feels timelier with every passing day. “Farewell” is the true story of a tired, disillusioned Soviet colonel who leaked KGB secrets to the west in early 1980s Moscow. He believed that his funneled secrets could start a new revolution, and based on Ronald Reagan’s description of the events as “one of the most important espionage cases of the 20th century,” he might have had due cause for that belief. Director Christian Carion grounds the story in the real world rather than indulging in breakneck Jason Bourne type escape. The colonel is annoyed when the French send an amateur engineer (Guillaume Canet, “Rock’n Roll,” also playing at this year’s festival) as his handler. Everyone is sullied, and ideals are compromised. As the task of betraying his country for the sake of the greater good begins to take its toll, this satisfyingly sober thriller becomes as morally complex as a John Le Carré novel.

PRE-SHOW MUSIC BY
Josh Birdsong (Thu)
Big Rand (Sun)

SPONSORED BY
Susan Bass & Tom Bradford (Thu)
Anonymous (Sun)