Released Date:
2004-03-17
Languages:
French, Russian, German, Greek
Countries:
France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Russia
Runtime:
115 min
IMDB Ratings:
6.5 (1117 Reviews)
Director:
Eric RohmerFrance, 1936-37. 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 Gènèral Dobrinsky soon. Fiodor's Greek wife, Arsinoè, 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 Arsinoè, ideology, petty jealousies, and the machinations of power roil in matters of life and death.
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