Farewell, a cold war drama by the French director Christian Carion, isn’t just a movie set in 1981; in many ways it feels like a movie made in 1981. Unflashy and unpretentious, laid out before us in a modest, slightly grayed-out Eastern Bloc color palette, the picture moves tentatively at first: It slumps into action, rather than springing into it. But scene by scene Carion, working from a true story, builds a spy story that focuses more on the human costs of betraying one’s country than on the political fallout. To put it another way, if one man’s leaking of a few maps and documents can precipitate the downfall of a country, just think what it could do to his family.
Originally posted here:
REVIEW: Farewell, the Week’s Other Spy Film, Explores Human Toll of Espionage
