Guillaume Canet:Pierre Froment & Alexandra Maria Lara:Jessica, sa femme est-allemande

SUD OUEST

Le rôle tenu par Emir Kusturica devait initialement être joué par son ami, le réalisateur russe Nikita Mikhalkov. En août 2009, Christian Carion a expliqué au journal "Sud Ouest" les raison du changement :

Q/Emir Kusturica est remarquable, comment s'est effectué votre choix ?

Interrogé durant le tournage, le producteur, Christophe Rossignon, assure : ”Dans la peau du célèbre espion du KGB qui offrit ses services à l'occident, personnage ambivalant et particulièrement complexe, d'un mimétisme déconcertant, Emir Kusturica s'est révélé exceptionnel.”

L'Affaire Farewell est le tout premier film a avoir obtenu la dérogation lui permettant de tourner au Palais de l'Elysée. Le réalisateur Christian Carion était convaincu : « Je leur ai expliqué que les films américains, quand ils montrent le pouvoir, ne font pas semblant. Et pourquoi les Français n’auraient pas accès à l’Elysée, quand les Américains tournent à Versailles ou au Louvre ? Le ministère de la Culture nous a soutenus. »

Christian Carion, dans son soucis d'exactitude, voulait également tourner à Moscou. Mais, quand le scénario a atterri entre les mains de l'interprête français de Vladimir Poutine, tout s'est grippé. L'ambassadeur de Russie en France, Avdeïev fera en sorte de tout bloquer avec la Russie. Et pour cause ! Avdeïev faisait partie des 47 diplomates russes expulsés par Mitterrand. En effet, en janvier 1983, la France découvre que tous les messages échangés depuis 1977 entre l’ambassade de France à Moscou et le Quai d’Orsay ont été interceptés par les Russes, qui avaient installé une dérivation sur le téléimprimeur de la chancellerie. Furieux, Mitterrand avait demandé la liste des membres du KGB et du GRU, le renseignement militaire soviétique opérant en France. Cette liste avait été obtenue grâce à la taupe Farewell…

Du coup, Carion s'est rabattu sur Kiev, en Ukraine. Il incrustera en arrière-plan des vues de Moscou. Esthétiquement, la capitale d'Ukraine ressemble en bien des points à Moscou. Le métro, par exemple, y est aussi beau. Or, plusieurs scènes importantes y sont prévues. Les autorisations n'ont pas tardé à arriver, d'autant plus vite que toute occasion d'agacer Moscou à distance y est plutôt bienvenue… Mais par prudence, au Regency Hyatt de Kiev, Guillaume Canet et Emir Kusturica sont descendus sous de faux noms : Marc Lanvin et Pierre Legrand…

Emir Kusturica a dû jouer en Russe (langue qu'il connaît bien, pour l'avoir apprise à l'école sous le régime communiste de Tito) et en français. Même s'il parle relativement bien français, il a quand même dû travailler son texte phonétiquement, et se faire aider par des antisèches tenues à bout de bras par une assistante…

L'onde de choc des révélations fournies par Farewell conduit l'URSS à son déclin et aboutit à la chute du mur de Berlin. A ce propos, Emir Kusturica déclare : ”Je ne suis pas la personne idéale pour apprécier la chute du mur. La réunification de l'Allemagne a aussitôt provoqué le démantèlement de mon pays, la Yougoslavie, qui me manque toujours, pourquoi le nier. Il y avait du mauvais dans le communisme, mais il y avait aussi du bon. Ce qui me plaît dans la vision de Christian Carion de ces événements, c'est sa dimension humaine. Farewell est un communiste au sens noble, comme l'était mon père, qui, comme lui, n'aurait pas supporté qu'on pervertisse ses idéaux de jeunesse.”

A Frenchman helped start this game, another the reviews (Screen)
10/10
Author: leplatypus from PariS
26 September 2009

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

A few months ago, I was reading a biography about the French President, François Mitterand and it discussed this Farewell case. As Mitterand had known about this, you can be sure this was a highly top secret file. But I can't remember what really happens so I was very eager to see this movie. In addition, the cold war time was my childhood and teen years, and as "Watchmen" did earlier, those movies bring now, nostalgia.

Actually, it was an old colleague of mine who thinks to this movie and we left the theater totally pleased. I really like French cinema when it doesn't forget what cinema is, that is to say: pictures moving with sound to tell a story! Usually, French movies are only speeches with no camera moves and silence, always telling about "old" France or failed relationships!

Here, since the beautiful credits, you understand that it will be a great movie and what it's about: CCCP vs. USA. Communism vs. Capitalism. As it's involved spies and moles, this conflict draws on the blood on common, "little" people, not the delusion of "James Bond". It all starts with the courage and bravery of individual people for whom beliefs, truth, justice, liberty are as essential as everything else (familial values, job fame, material life,...). Thus, becoming spy is per se dangerous for one's own life but it threatens all that you can have built in your life, especially family. This danger is depicted with great talent in the movie. Choices are hard and nothing comes easily.

Another aspect of spy life is shown with intelligence: as Mulder would say, "Trust no one": if you are a spy, others can be spy-hunters, thus you get paranoid, suspicious with everyone: the "babushka" (grandmother), the maid, colleagues, the big head of administration. Worst: the golden rule in espionage is that a spy is always alone, thus spies can killed each other without even knowing it. That's the terrible tragedy in this movie…

In addition to spy life, this movie offers also deep thoughts about married life, and parenthood. The big adversary there isn't ideology but time. Kids grown up, love flame can be extinguished. You got to be cautious, even more than for your spy business. The infidelity, cheating times in the movie are funny, because they seem so far away for all this political war and yet, they act the same!

But, to be good, a movie needs, beyond ideas, people and here, every one delivers: I didn't know so far the director, Caron as a director but he deserves to be recognized: He has been able to change scope every time (From White House to bench talking about poetry) and he is imaginative: I really liked the sequences of driving, between "Duel" and De Palma, and the end credits.

I don't know if the locations are indeed Russian but you really got the feel of a socialist republic and the 80's: Walkman, Pink-Floyd, Queen and 8mm movies! My father had the same hobby than Farewell and as his son, my brother and I can be seen running on the wall! A very moving moment for me.

The cast is greatly rich with exceptional guest-stars: I remember Ingeborha Dapkounaite from my Russian period. Willem Dafoe is always a (machiavelic) presence in whatever he does. It's funny to see "Hutch" and the participation from Gorby and Mitterand, because they look very much like the real ones. From my point of view, Reagan is too young and energetic but I agree with his pictorial as a cowboy, past actor because the above-mentioned book about Mitterand says the same. And he was also a funny movie critic: just read the poster of this movie!

Now, for our pair of spies, Canet is a good choice because the part needed a low profile, not big mouth actor, which he is. And Kusturica is truly an "Emir", AMAZING! He shows so much humanity within his gruff exterior.

I really hope that this movie will be attended by big crowds and wins a lot of awards (especially for Emir) because their success would be the long-awaited homage to the real people in this story! Definitively, a reference in spy movie!

I loved it & so did everyone in my film group!
10/10
Author: Dorothy Davis from New York City
19 May 2010

My film group and I saw "Farewell" at Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Lincoln Center in New York. We all loved it. I do hope it will have a commercial release soon so more people can see it. The acting was superb, the screenplay riveting.

We did not know the story so we were kept on the edges of our seats. I gained a lot of insights into what was going on in the cold war and emerged with a very different take on what had happened and increased appreciation for the leaders of France and the U. S. and appreciation for the brave Russian agent and what he did for the world.

I am looking forward to reading the book on which the film was based. The opening and closing were so beautiful and meaningful -- the meaning only grasped at the end. I will never forget them.