Farewell

"Some secrets have the power to change the course of history."

2009 1h 53m FR

👍

6.5

SOLID

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.9

IMDB

★6.5TMDB · 144●74Metacritic★6.9IMDB · 7,053

ThrillerDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

An intricate thriller about an ordinary man thrust into the biggest theft of Soviet information of the Cold War. Right after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. A French businessman based in Moscow, Pierre Froment, makes an unlikely connection with Grigoriev, a senior KGB officer disenchanted with what the Communist ideal has become under Brezhnev. Grigoriev begins passing Froment highly sensitive information about the Soviet spy network in the US.

“Some secrets have the power to change the course of history.”

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Cast

Guillaume Canet
Pierre Froment
Emir Kusturica
Sergei Grigoriev
Alexandra Maria Lara
Jessica Froment
Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė
Natasha
Dina Korzun
Alina
Evgeniy Kharlanov
Igor
Niels Arestrup
Vallier
Willem Dafoe
Feeney

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Christian Carion
Writers: Christian Carion, Eric Raynaud, Serguei Kostine
Languages: Russian, French, English
Countries: France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 17 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Russian, French, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Christian Carion, shot by Walther van den Ende. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Clint Mansell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Andrea Sedláčková shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Guillaume Canet and Emir Kusturica and Alexandra Maria Lara carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Some secrets have the power to change the course of history.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0806029 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Christian Carion directs. Walther van den Ende behind the camera. Clint Mansell scores. Andrea Sedláčková cuts. Produced in France. Dialogue in Russian, French, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 17 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Russian, French, English.
3Directed by Christian Carion, shot by Walther van den Ende. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Clint Mansell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Andrea Sedláčková shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Guillaume Canet and Emir Kusturica and Alexandra Maria Lara carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Some secrets have the power to change the course of history.".
8IMDB entry: tt0806029 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 8 themes, including "france", "espionage", "cold war", "soviet union".

The technical file

Cinematography: Walther van den Ende
Original score: Clint Mansell
Editing: Andrea Sedláčková
Production design: Jean-Michel Simonet
Costume design: Corinne Jorry
Makeup / hair: Mabi Anzalone
Stunt coordinator: Daniel Vérité
Runtime: 113 min · 1h 53m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: FR
IMDB: Farewell (2009)
Metacritic: 74/100
IMDB rating: 6.9/10 · 7,053 votes
MPAA: Not Rated

Also by

Christian Carion

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Andres Gomez2013-10-18
★ 7/10
The performances are really good and the staging is quite believable and impressive. The plot is really well done ... the only problem is that it is really far from the actual facts.

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