JDIFF 2010 - DAY 2: back to 1981 with Salvador and L'Affaire Farewell

Posted on Saturday February 20, 2010, 00:33 by Sam Toy in Under The Radar

Ask anyone who was there, even as a kid, and they’ll tell you the Reagan years were a particularly dark period in world politics; he was a reactionary old fool who most people were glad to see the back of. And yes, I’ve re-written that sentence to avoid being sued by his estate. Still, no matter how painful the memory, it’s always good to be reminded of past mistakes, and today I was delivered a double dose from the early years of the Decade Of Shame – two features, and by coincidence, both set in 1981.

The first was a bit of a surprise, which I had overlooked on my earlier perusal of the programme: Oliver Stone’s Salvador. I’m still not sure which stream of JDIFF this belongs to (my guess is it’s part of their ‘Out Of The Past’ section), but I’m certainly glad it was included, for a couple of reasons. First, it now serves as a testament to the theory of “the more things change...” - America playing with puppet dictators, and its kick-in-the-‘nads, anti-immigrant ending. Secondly, I was amazed at how much of the film I had forgotten. I have a copy of this on VHS back Australia, which I’ve not seen in at least a decade, but I would have sworn that copy had a running time of about 86 minutes or so (or of course I could just be getting a touch of the Ronalds); here I got the full two hours.

It was an old, beaten-up print with bad sound, but that somehow added to the low-budget feel of the movie. It’s got the usual Stone subtleties – none – but that’s something I’ve always loved about his work; the “fuck you - this situation is wrong, and if I have to clobber you with my point for two hours to make it sink in, I will” attitude (particularly to American audiences, who let’s face it, generally like their messages in an easy-to-read font size). Unfortunately, it also becomes one of Salvador’s problems: melodrama – this is Fictional Representation Of War Crimes 101, after studying hard upon Battleship Potemkin. It’s worth noting though, that Stone is at least prepared to throw the odd stone in the opposite direction, at one point condemning the revolutionaries for committing the same crimes as their oppressor. It was a great screening, which has me keen to source the DVD for its commentary and making-of.

The second film was one I’ve had my eye on for a little while, L’Affaire Farewell: the story of the Soviet who was almost solely responsible for ending the Cold War. We’re not talking about Mikhael Gorbachev here, but – at least according to this truth-based story – Sergei Gregoriev, a high-ranking KGB agent. Seeing the slow death of the USSR under Brezhnev, Gregoriev opted instead for a quick one, leaking documents which would eventually knock the Soviets out of the space and arms races, losing them the fifty-odd year power struggle against the West.

My hopes at their highest, were for something maybe as good as The Lives Of Others – which is perhaps a little unfair, but while it doesn’t scale those heights, L’Affaire Farewell is a bloody good espionage film. It focuses on the relationship between Gregoriev (Emir Kusturica) and French engineer Pierre Froment (Guillaume Canet), who was living in Moscow at the time. Gregoriev took the ‘it’s so old they’ll never think of it’ route to handing over information – a steady trickle of top level intelligence exchanged over quiet meetings on park benches, etc. Froment would then take the documents to Paris, and hand them to government agents (one who is played by A Prophet’s brilliant Niels Arestrup, who shall henceforth be referred to as the French Brian Cox), who answered directly to President Mitterrand, who personally communicated them to Reagan. The tightness of the loop not only gives credence to the magnitude of the information being imparted, but allows the movie to function as a small, tight (and I would be very reluctant to use the term ‘spy’) thriller. The casting works a treat, even if Fred Ward as Reagan takes some getting used to. Kusturica in particular shines, as the jaded but charismatic comrade living in a web of deceit, trying to do the right thing for his estranged, teenage son. Froment meanwhile, is developing an ulcer from the stress of it all, and wants out. And of course, the wives have a whole different perspective on the struggle.

The realisation of the period and place feel very real – a mighty achievement, given that no permission was granted to film in Moscow (still a touchy subject, apparently, so it was filmed mostly in Ukraine); what shots you do see of the capital were apparently snatched while director Christian Carion pretended to shoot a commercial there – although we have no corroboration of this story yet, we do like it. Special mention too for Clint Mansell's score; nice.

L’Affaire pulls off a feat similar to that achieved recently by Inglourious Basterds – presenting a story in at least three languages, and not only keeping it understandable, but all the more riveting for it. The other thing they share is Diane Kruger – keep your eyes peeled for a cameo. It’ll be getting a UK release from early April, simply under the title Farewell; highly recommended.