Synopsis
The Popular Front wins elections, the Spanish Civil War begins, and Hitler and Stalin are manipulating and spying. The brilliant exile, Fiodor Voronin, a general at 20, is the deputy at the White Russian Military Union, probably slated to replace the aging Général Dobrinsky soon. Fiodor's Greek wife, Arsinoé, paints and stays away from politics, befriending Communist neighbors. Her health declines; the attentive Fiodor arranges care and, against the backdrop of Stalin's Great Purge, considers his options. He plays a chess game in which love of country, love of Arsinoé, ideology, petty jealousies, and the machinations of power roil in matters of life and death.
Facts
Setting
Paris
Production
Les Films du Losange
Original language
German, French, Russian
Trailer
Stills
Festival History
- Berlin International Film Festival 2004 generic
- BFI London Film Festival 2004 generic
- New York Film Festival 2004 generic
- San Francisco International Film Festival 2004 generic
