This sunday, I went with my wife to the cinema, watch a french thriller about the Farewell dossier (see here for more details : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farewell_Dossier).
The film is about a russian intelligence officer (Emir Kusturica), disgusted by what Russia had become now (the movie is set in 1981). So, he trades informations not with american services, but with the french, his contact being a french engineer (Guillaume Canet) working in Moscow for Thompson. So, what about Queen ? The russian's son is apparently a huge fan of the band : the first time he's onscreen, he's listening to "Under Pressure" (I suppose this is anachronic, as pressure was released in october 81 and the first minutes of the film occures in april, but, who cares ?)
As the band was banned in Russia in the 80s, it was probably difficult for him to get western music. The russian officer doesn't want any money, nor being exfiltred in Europe or US. He with his wife are fond of the french culture ; so he asked his french contact to trade the intelligence he gets with cognac, champagne, Leo Ferret LPs, french poetry, and for his son, a sony walkman and Queen tapes.
We next see the son in his garden, his new walkman on, singing and dancing on "we will rock you" just like Freddie with intercuts of a live concert (I suppose this is the Montreal one, but I'm not sure) ; this scene lasts at least 2 minutes and we have lots of close-ups at Freddie almost naked (my wife was quite surprised) and Brian with his Red Special. I was very happy !
We have a last scene with Queen music : the son is listening to Bo Rhap in his bedroom, discussing with his father if he's a treator or not. As a fan of western music, we are not sure if the son wants to leave Russia.
If you have any chance to see this movie, I recommend you to ; it was very enjoyable to see Queen on a large screen !
I haven't seen the film but I was, in the past, mildly interested in Cold War history. My dad had a Russian KGB friend(long story) who was probably a contemporary of codename "Farewell". He told me a lot about underground music in Russia in the 80's and thereafter. Queen and Pink Floyd were among the most popular bands, and by popular, I mean IMMENSELY popular. They were considered gods, especially the former because according to him, Queen's music gave them an opportunity to escape their persistent monotony and misery. Mixtapes, bootlegs, etc. of Queen songs were widely distributed in the 80's and hardly anyone hadn't heard of Queen. So I guess they included Queen in the film to paint an accurate picture of Russian life in the 80's...
I haven't seen the film but I was, in the past, mildly interested in Cold War history. My dad had a Russian KGB friend(long story) who was probably a contemporary of codename "Farewell". He told me a lot about underground music in Russia in the 80's and thereafter. Queen and Pink Floyd were among the most popular bands, and by popular, I mean IMMENSELY popular. They were considered gods, especially the former because according to him, Queen's music gave them an opportunity to escape their persistent monotony and misery. Mixtapes, bootlegs, etc. of Queen songs were widely distributed in the 80's and hardly anyone hadn't heard of Queen. So I guess they included Queen in the film to paint an accurate picture of Russian life in the 80's...
Some people will watch it just for that. Kind of like those fools who watch Furia because of Brian May doing the soundtrack for it...
Well, didn't you?
As I think most of us watched Flash Gordon, or Highlander...
I really think those movie are far from great, but I kinda felt like I had to, because of the soundtrack.
Can't tell about L'affaire Farewell though, still haven't seen it yet, I might consider it
Some people will watch it just for that. Kind of like those fools who watch Furia because of Brian May doing the soundtrack for it...
Well, didn't you?
As I think most of us watched Flash Gordon, or Highlander...
I really think those movie are far from great, but I kinda felt like I had to, because of the soundtrack.
Can't tell about L'affaire Farewell though, still haven't seen it yet, I might consider it
cheers!
yeah, i fell a obrigation to watch this kind of movies just because the soundtrack!!
I haven't seen Flash Gordon and don't have the album either. I always felt that I could do well without it(like Hot Space). I've seen Highlander but long before I knew who Queen were.
If people like to do that, great.