While this cold war thriller met with fairly luke-warm reviews on release in its native France, Farewell is directed with conviction by Academy Award nominee Christian Carion (2005's Merry Christmas) and makes for a thoroughly entertaining couple of hours. While it lacks the stomach-punch of a Bourne flick or the mind-bending plot-turns of a John Le Carré page-turner, there's enough intrigue to keep the story readily ticking over.
Pierre (Canet) is a French engineer working between Paris and Moscow, and as the Soviet Empire rapidly deflates, he unexpectedly becomes a contact for Sergei (Kustarica), a Francophile spy determined to help create a new Russia. His material is so valuable it is passed through Paris to Washington and a delighted President Regan (Fred Ward). From the start, it's clear that Carion's screenwriter has character drama in his sights. Eschewing the conventions of political drama (in fact, he eschews the greater political picture where possible), he builds a story about trust, or the lack thereof.
Thus an unlikely friendship builds between a button-downed French thrill seeker (who wouldn't get excited about gathering state secrets?) and a man who didn't play by the rules. Sergei, possibly knowing the limitations of his colleagues, happily deals in broad daylight while discussing French poetry. As it becomes clear that hardly anyone knew what they thought they knew, Carion adds more depth to the narrative theme of knowledge and power. Enter a shaky family life: Sergei is having a tedious affair with a work colleague about which his teenage son becomes an accidental witness; Pierre's secretive life is undoing his marriage.
All of which may be lacklustre stuff for fans of Spooks, yet because Farewell is much more modest in its ambition, it makes for much more compelling viewing. Ably served by Canet and Kusturica, the discussion about relationships is given a boost by a tragic conclusion and the time capsule background against which it's set. All of which makes for a thoroughly entertaining couple of hours.
// COLIN FRASER
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