Film: Farewell | reviews, news & interviews
Film: Farewell
Film: Farewell
Cold War thriller with grip of iron
Saturday, 26 September 2009
The trailer for Farewell - released in Paris this week - was so dull I nearly didn't bother to go and see the film. The problem with selling Cold War thrillers to the masses is that realistic spy movies have little truck with trailer-friendly stunts, explosions and one-liners. But as any reader of Le Carré knows, the world of espionage is a world of smoke and mirrors, where no-one is who they appear to be, and where cynicism and expediency rub shoulders with slow-burning paranoia. In the right hands, these ingredients can have you on the edge of your seat, and fortunately for us, the hands of French writer-director Christian Carion are as safe as they come.
The trailer for Farewell - released in Paris this week - was so dull I nearly didn't bother to go and see the film. The problem with selling Cold War thrillers to the masses is that realistic spy movies have little truck with trailer-friendly stunts, explosions and one-liners. But as any reader of Le Carré knows, the world of espionage is a world of smoke and mirrors, where no-one is who they appear to be, and where cynicism and expediency rub shoulders with slow-burning paranoia. In the right hands, these ingredients can have you on the edge of your seat, and fortunately for us, the hands of French writer-director Christian Carion are as safe as they come.
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
more Film
Joker: Folie à Deux review - supervillainy laid low
Joaquin Phoenix’s clown crim faces a too-long stretch in the slammer
The Battle for Lakipia review - why post-colonial Kenya is a land of unease
Tensions run high between white farmers and the indigenous people
The Old Man and the Land review - dark secrets of a farming family
Film meets radio in an experimental agro-drama
Megalopolis review - magic from cinema's dawn
Coppola's decades in the making American epic is trippily, totteringly unique
The Teacher review - tense West Bank drama
In Farah Nabulsi's debut, a Palestinian ex-militant urges a grieving teen to resist revenge
The Outrun review - Saoirse Ronan is astonishing as an alcoholic fighting for recovery
Pitch-perfect adaptation of Orcadian Amy Liptrot's memoir, skilfully directed
Blu-ray: Ikiru
Kurosawa's profound, touching meditation on mortality and memory
Blu-ray: Crumb
Terry Zwigoff's landmark, cracked family portrait of misanthropic comix genius R Crumb
The law's sick voyeurism - director Cédric Kahn on 'The Goldman Case'
Kahn's drama about the 1976 trial of Pierre Goldman mirrors conflicts in modern France
Notes from Sheepland review - her farm is her canvas
A documentary captures the double life of artist Orla Barry
The Substance review - Demi Moore as an ageing Hollywood celeb with body issues
Coralie Fargeat's second feature packs a visual punch but lacks substance
Strange Darling review - love really hurts
This unconventional cat-and-mouse thriller has one too many plot twists for its own good
Add comment