Teheran 43 - Nid d'espions

One of the best Russian films of the 80-ies, a perfect wartimes spy thriller with ideology left aside. It has been nice to see how wonderfully russian and western actors interact in this 30 years-long saga, expecially Natalia Belochvostikova who makes a perfect match for Alain Delon. One of the best things is the soundtrack containing one of my favourite songs of Charles Aznavour.

Directors Alov and Naumov gather great film actors from different nationalities(Russian,French,German) in the excellent "Tegeran-43".The film combines different genres and it has a very interesting scenario.Therefore,the audience keeps interest in it in spite of the big duration.The characters are really intriguing and the actors are marvellous.The music is also great:the popular French singer Charles Aznavour performs a very nice song.There is no political propaganda in the film at all.But there is lots of tension and even a love story.Moreover,the film offers you the rare chance to see Soviet actors in partnership with European once.And their partnership is really worth seeing.

This film combines both a touching story of the communication between the man and the young woman and an action-packed intrigue concerning historical events.

It stars a very charming pair of actors - Igor Kostolevsky and Natalia Belokhvostikova. Their faces, facial expressions, shades of voice are set off by touching music with the song of Charles Aznavour. Marie is pronouncing some very deep and sincere words and watches Andre's reaction, and he listens to her attentively - he glares at her and literally eats her with his eyes, and the viewer wants to do the same. And all this takes place in the scenery of the eastern city with its flavor and with the interiors of its junk shops, cafes, shabby hotels and opium dens.

This subtle, intelligent acting duet is set off by the figure of the actor Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, whose bright and expressive acting, like a magnet, always, attracts the audience's attention in the frame.

The film also features Alain Delon - a cult French actor for millions of Russians in the 80s of the twentieth century.

And thus, brick by brick, the missing links of the intrigue of a political detective are gradually being built.

I am US born and raised. However at age 15 I lived in Guadalajara, Mexico, and was exposed to many items not available in the US. I remember taking Soviet made vitamins and there were some Cuban products that my family purchased at the supermarket. I also saw quite a few foreign movies and Tegeran-43, which came out on the big screen in Mexico in 1983, made a very impressionable impact on me.

In particular, the music (score) used in the movie seemed to add to the drama and emotion drawn on by the actors. The plot that was going to be used to assassinate the big three was better than any James Bond movie plot I had seen to that date.

I have casually looked for this movie here in the US for about ten years now but have never found it. I hope that now in today's DVD era, this movie becomes available or is available and I just haven't found it.

This is not an uninteresting film, a political thriller inspired from actual facts, that no other film has even talked about, told in the American way, after the seventies political thrillers in the line of ALL THE PRESIDENTS MEN or PARALLAX VIEW. Plus, this is an international production, proposing an international cast. But, as any political thriller, the plot is rather complex, hard to follow, but still riveting, tense, without any lead character; on the contrary, you have plenty of them. It needs to be seen several times, I guess. That's the second time I see it since thirty years. I still enjoy, but nt destined to wide, large audiences.