La spia russa

This film tells the story of three soviet spies, who smuggle secrets out to the Americans. They have a complicated love triangle, which is further complicated by one of them defecting to America.

It tells a story that spans two generations and two countries, involving love, idealism, regret, healing and many life and death decisions. The story is not strictly chronological, as it reveals bits of the story when appropriate, creating suspense and making me look forward to see how the plot will unfold. It is a story that tells how tragic societal circumstances tear lives apart, and its effects ripple across time and space. I certainly did not expect "Despite the Falling Snow" to be so gripping and so touching.

This movie has a lush, romanticized wartime feel. But I wish that it hadn't started in present day though, because in doing so, it diminished some of the intensity and intrigue around the past story.

I am surprised this film has an average rating since the acting is great. Rebecca Ferguson is her beautiful talented self again and her versatility is once again displayed. Sharif did a great job casting and directing her as lead. I want to thank Shamim for the little but breathtaking scenes between Rebecca and Antje it was fireworks. I mean who can resist such striking blue eyes. I would've liked more scenes between them because their characters are not as developed although understandably so of course. I like films about war and I am a sucker for romance so I get two things I like in one film. Antje's eyes will get her anywhere and of course her talent and if you're a fan of Rebecca and Sharif then you have to see this film. Loved it so much.

When you're cooking and you use ingredients that are 4/10 in quality/freshness, make a 4/10 recipe and put 4/10 effort to details, temperature, timing, etc, you get something that is at best 4/10. You don't need to ask the taster "How would you rate this?" because as a chef, what do you expect?

This is not a commentary on the mediocre Russian cuisine using Soviet era ingredients, but is this production company under embargo or something that they have to do with rations? Could they not have a better script?

Oh wait, the director decided to write her own script, not ask anyone for assistance, and direct everything herself. If your script is good, find a good director to make it. If you're a good director, find a good script to make into film. Very, very few people can do both. The problem is many, many people think they can.

The problem is that a weak director could ruin their own top-notch self- written script with mediocre direction. And a poor self-written script could ruin a great director's film by not getting any scrutiny or passing any filters from idea to finished film.

Let's talk positives first. The soundtrack: 10/10. This is perhaps the best score I've ever heard in my life.

Rebecca Ferguson is one of the most beautiful women to grace the screen and she's exceptionally talented, but eye-candy and great soundtrack do not a great film make.

The other actors were good for what it's worth.

The script, the story, the dialogues, the whole thing is a huge let down. I was looking forward to this film and I can't recommend it to anyone.

It's just not worth watching.

Buy the soundtrack though.

Just watched this movie having previously read the plot online and been semi-excited to watch it. On the whole however I have to say I was left a little bit disappointed.

I've always been fascinated by life in the Soviet Union both during and after WWII and both during the Stalin and post-Stalin worlds, so anything set then is of interest to me.

Things I struggled with however were in the 90's part of the film, who Rebecca Ferguson was playing (I have since gather it's the main character's niece, but as you never see his sister this didn't make much sense) and secondly the lesbian-love angle between the niece the and journalist seems very unlikely to me to be credible. That in particular seemed more of an attempt to place modern values upon the past which is never something I am keen on in a movie.

The plot itself jumps around a bit through the timelines but you can kind of follow it and the ending I thought made the whole thing semi-worthwhile. It's just the middle section of the movie I thought was a bit weak.

On the whole though I think it's worth a watch, but wasn't one where I would ever be likely to want to watch it again.