SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Donald Seymour This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Rafael Carvajal I couldn't convince my friends to keep watching the film with me, and me myself, I ended up watching it just to complete it with no great expectations after the first half.Historical facts are not such revealing as we would like, sure there are a couple of facts of great impact, but still I was hoping for more.The acting of the main characters was decent, although Fremont was kind of cheesy; but the acting from the American side, especially Dafoe, was awful, so lame I didn't want to hear their part. Reagan was kind of over-portrayed.The end was as dull as the rest of the film.Just because it is an extraordinary story (rea life one) it deserves up to 5 stars.

jotix100 One night, Frenchman Pierre Froment, living in Moscow, attends his daughter's circus performance. He excuses himself for a moment to go to his car. As he sits in the driver's seat, he is surprised by an intruder with an interesting proposition. The messenger, Sergei Gregoriev, chooses the innocent looking Pierre because he had served a tour of duty in France. Sergei has fond memories of his time there.It is the beginning of the 1980s and Breznev is in control. Things have gotten so bad in the country, Sergei believes something is needed to bring change into his land. For that, he proposes an exchange of secret documents that Pierre will deliver to France to be passed on to the Americans. His reasoning is that by doing that something will result as the Soviets enemies will be outsmarted.France had just elected Francois Mitterand, a socialist to the highest office. He had all intentions of naming communists to the cabinet, something the Americans dreaded. As Mitterand is informed of Pierre's mission, he decides to cooperate with the United Nations. In doing so, he gets to discuss what is happening with Ronald Reagan himself, who is at first reluctant, until he realizes what a good thing has fallen in his lap.Sergei must do all kinds of secret maneuvers in order to copy the material for Pierre. He risks being exposed as a traitor with all the consequences that go with whatever punishment he gets. His situation at home is not exactly a happy one. He lives with his wife and a son that is going to the university, but who secretly loves everything Western, as most young people from his generation. In addition, he has his own secret life, a sordid affair with Natasha. His sacrifice for wanting to change the system will come to haunt his own life.Directed by Christian Carion, who gave us the wonderful "Joyeux Noel", the director keeps his excellent work taking thorny issues such as the one at heart in this film. The film surprises because it puts into context an unknown page of history as it celebrates the obscure protagonists that were instrumentals in what was the end of a totalitarian regime. The screenplay is based on a book written by Serguei Kostine with an adaptation by the director and Eric Reynaud.The film is totally dominated by Emir Kusturica, who is a notable director himself. His Sergei Gregoriev is one of the most compelling characters in recent memory. This was a selfish man that saw a nation in despair because of a rotten system. Taking things into his own hands, he foresaw what would become as a result of his actions. Guillaume Canet, also a film director who gave us the wonderful "Tell No One", makes an impression as Pierre Froment. The large international cast include some good actors. Fred Ward, Willem Dafoe, Philippe Magnan, the marvelous Nils Arestrup, Alexandra Maria Lara, among the supporting cast add to our enjoyment.The cinematography by Walther Van Den Ende as well as Clint Mansell's music score enhance the film. Director Christian Carion is a man to watch.

cultfilmfan Farewell is a French film in French, English and Russian, but with English subtitles. The film is based on the book Bonjour Farewell by Serguei Kostine. The film takes place in the early 1980's and is about a Russian internal security officer named Sergei, who is fed up with the current communist government and decides to take Soviet documents and secret information to the government of France, under President Mitterrand, who himself is a socialist, but is working in coalition with the communists. Sergei hopes that by doing this he could bring about a change in the Soviet Union. Sergei realizes that he can not do it alone, so he gets the help of a French engineer named Pierre Froment, who is based out of Moscow, to help him with his mission. During the film both men will come under suspicion of family members and those around them and at times they even doubt each other, but Sergei is bound and determined to succeed with his mission. Before, I saw Farewell, I knew very little about it, but had seen and read some of the great reviews it had been receiving. It took me a little while to sort of get caught up with the characters and all the events that were going on during the film, but in the end I found myself loving the film. I am glad that I decided to go see Farewell, instead of skipping it altogether. I think the fact that it was about espionage worried me, because I really am not a fan of the usual James Bond type espionage and spy films. Farewell thankfully turned out to be something different. Instead of a lot of action, car chases and the usual high tech gimmicks and story lines that are pumped out in the American versions of these type of films (and I guess the British, seeing as they created James Bond), we are instead taken down a different route, where we are introduced to these two men and we really get to know the two of them well during the length of the film and we even start to care about them. We see them go about their daily lives with things going on at home and raising families, but these two also are passionate people and they are doing what they are doing for what they consider to be the best thing for them and their country and families. This film took a more personal approach by letting us get to know these two men and giving us good character development and sets a good pace for the film and also helps us to understand why they are doing what they are doing and the end results and choices they end up making. The dialogue between the characters is all very good here and the acting from the two leads and basically the whole cast is terrific. The film once you get to know what is going on, moves at a good pace and at times is thrilling and at other times we are in deep fascination to see what will happen in the character's personal lives as well as what will happen with the mission they are working on. As, I said we really do get to know these characters well with their heroic qualities and even their flaws and we still admire them both and get to care for them. Some of the best scenes of the film have nothing to do with the espionage mission at all, but instead seeing how they interact with their families and how they go about their daily lives. It may not be action packed, but it feels realistic and human and more believable this way. Farewell is a really captivating film with it's story which is brought to great justice by a great script, direction and performances. I also appreciated seeing a European view on the events and matters that take place during the film instead of a typical and perhaps biased American version. I could respect and see what they were trying to get across in this version of the story and I am glad they did not change anything to be more commercial, or to sell more tickets. Farewell is a terrific film and definitely one of the best of 2010.

liberalgems This is a very empowering, true-story about one man, Sergei Gregoriev, who probably did more to bring down the Communist government in Russia - and end the cold war - than any other person who ever lived! This man should be honored by a postage stamp in every Western country in the world and in every high school history textbook! What an incredibly brave human being!I gained a lot of insights from watching this amazing film. The Russians lost an estimated 26 million people during World War 2. That's 1 in 3 people that died in all of World War 2 did so within the borders of the Soviet Union! I can only imagine the trauma and paranoia that was inflicted on the survivors who later then came to power. It didn't help either that a monster was at the head of government (Stalin) from 1924 to 1953. And, you wonder why the Soviets had a such a mind-boggling intelligence apparatus established throughout the United States? Once this network of spies was dismantled, the Soviet leadership was blind! Out of fear they bankrupted themselves on military spending because they could no longer accurately assess what actual threats the United States posed to them!Sergei Gregoriev, knew how his government would react to such a threat and he sacrificed everything to make it happen. I don't think he would be happy with the gangster capitalism that took Communism's place. But at least there are no more brutal wars fought in desperately poor countries, which have cost millions of lives because of the Cold War! Future generations will thank you for your sacrifice, Sergei Gregoriev!