In 1981, a French engineer living in Moscow begins a liaison with a disillusioned KGB agent who begins passing him secrets which can then be snuck out of Russia and passed along to French intelligence. Soon, it becomes clear that the secrets are in regards to American intelligence, specifically security locations and codes and the identity of Russian spies. The information is passed along to Reagan who has the agents subdued and uses the opportunity to pursue his Star Wars initiative, all of which as blowback on the engineer and rogue agent. Farewell, from the French director Christian Carion, is an intricately detailed spy thriller based on crucial real life events. Guillaume Canet and Emir Kusturica, as the engineer and the agent respectively, deliver fine performances and it is interesting to see Fred Ward play Ronald Reagan and William Dafoe as a high ranking CIA official. In a time when spy movies are associated with nonstop actioneers such as the Bourne or James Bond series, it is a pleasure to see a well made character driven film that takes its time and lets its story develop.
