:
Katerina Didaskalou,
Katerina Didaskalou,
Serge Renko,
more...
:
Eric Rohmer,
Eric Rohmer
see all cast/crew...
: Koch Lorber Films
: Foreign
: 115 min.
: French
: English
see additional details...
|
|
Eric Rohmer, the globally-celebrated auteur behind Claire's Knee and Ma nuit chez Maud, helms Triple Agent, a riveting political drama set in 1930s France. The story is based on the historical account of Fyodor erge Renko, a Russian expatriate general filling the triple role of practicing espionage for the Marxists, Soviets, and Communists, and concurrently deceiving his wife Arsinoé (Katerina Didaskalou). Fyodor's life ultimately becomes entwined in the throes of deception and his life begins to unravel. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
|
| Spies Who Talk a Lot (It's Rohmer: What Did You Expect?)
by talltale
February 8, 2006 - 3:42 PM PST
|
|
|
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful
|
If you're an Eric Rohmer fan, you'll want to see TRIPLE AGENT--no matter what. This is the grand old man of French cinema's "take" on a nearly 70-year-old event in French history--about which few non-Frenchmen (and, I wager, many current French citizens) will know little to nothing.
I decided to first watch the "special feature" interviews with an historian and with the niece of one of the main characters in Rohmer's fictionalized account, hoping it would give me some facts and perspective. It did, and although I still found myself at sea now and again during the interviews, I'm glad I handled it this way. If you already know something about this case, by all means forego the interviews until you've seen the film.
"Triple Agent" is as talky as any of Rohmer's movies, but what talk it is! Much of the best of it has to do with politics, Communism (as practiced so differently by Stalin and the French), the Spanish Civil War and the relationship between a husband and wife--the former of whom knows far more than is good for either of them.
The performances are wonderful, the period look is striking and beautiful, and the interspersed newsreel footage, though black-and-white and quite grainy, makes an interesting comparison to the sharp color photography, while providing good historical context. (The film is shown in the old-fashioned, non-wide-screen format, as is the director's wish.)
That no one in this story appears to be what we would call "trustworthy" is beside the point--and may, in fact, be Rohmer's point. When the times are as uneasy and clearly heading toward a major world upheaval, as they were in Europe and Russia just pre-WWII (and may be, too, in our world just now), second- and third-guessing about who is doing what and why--and then acting on those guesses--is to be expected. The results, however, never are. This one's a "don't miss" for film lovers with a bent for history, France, politics or M. Rohmer. |
|
|
GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.83)
6 Votes
add to list 
|
|
|
Your cart
© 2006 All Media Guide, LLC. Portions of content provided by All Movie Guide®,
a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.