Product Description

True lies are given a historical spin in Eric Rohmer's invigoratingly ambitious Triple Agent. A period tragedy in the vein of the octogenarian French New Wave director's The Lady And The Duke, it's very loosely based on the true story of White Russian Army general Fyodor (Serge Renko) who played a triply duplicitous role as a spy in 30s France, deceiving not only Marxists, Soviets and Fascists but also his long-suffering wife Arsinoé (Katerina Didaskalou) until the forces of history finally caught up with him.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #83454 in DVD
• Brand: Koch International
• Released on: 2006-01-10
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Content/Copy-Protected CD, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: French, German, Greek, Russian
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 115 minutes

Customer Reviews

Not your average spy film
Eric Rohmer makes a spy film - though as one critic puts it, that doesn't make him likely to be a front runner to direct the next James Bond movie. Set on 1936, under the shadow of the Popular Front victory in France's elections, and based on the real life case of Russian spy Nikolai Skoblin, the movie is mostly about people in closed rooms chatting about politics. But most of the talk seems intelligent and engaging (by the way, the movie follows the real case closely, if you believe the Wikipedia article about Skoblin). The actors are fine, as usual in Rohmer films - Renko is slippery as the titular spy, Didaskalu shines as his suffering and naive wife, Langlet seems lovely as the couple's communist neighbor. Now the Popular Front victory of the time probably means next to nothing to most people today - but it was probably a life moving experience for Rohmer - who was 16 at that time. In a way, this film is about Rohmer again settling scores against the French left, though thankfully, his conservative politics aren't as overbearing as in "The Lady and the Duke".

a very intellectual french film
this is the story of a man who is caught in the web of his own political associations during a timeline which was influenced by great social and political changes.. Moreover, it is the tale of a couple forever changed by circumstances that seem to be above their control.. And when magnified further, it is the story of a couple who are quite communicative - yet not able to communicate about the central things which will change their lives..
This is my introduction to the French director Rohemer, I have not seen any of his films which some consider to be classic yet difficult films..
This movie certainly opens up my curiousity.. as it is such a well done and multifaced exploration of a time period - and also a lifestyle that deserves examination..
As others have noted this film is full of tedious conversations - it moves kind of slowly, but like the novels of Proust it is worth the effort.
This is my reason for the 4 star rating - it is not for everyone - but well worth the time..

Eric Rohmer as an Acquired Taste
Eric Rohmer will undoubtedly sustain in cinema history as a unique writer and director of French films. He is far more interested in dialogue, conversation among his characters, and ideas than he is in plot or storyline development. His films affect many as too didactic, too much like a lecture series on current events or historical events to be considered a movie. Perhaps that is the case, as watching a Rohmer film takes total concentration and thinking.

Such is the case for his 2004 TRIPLE AGENT. Set in Paris of 1936-37, it is essentially a re-thinking of a true story that about a spy, a bit of history that is still unsolved. To understand this film requires a working knowledge of the political movements intertwining during the time: France's Popular Front, Hitler's rising influence in Europe, the Stalinist era, the Spanish Civil War with Franco and his adversaries, etc. The mix is all placed in the thoughts and discussions of Fyodor Voronin (Serge Renko), his Greek painter wife Arsinoé (Katerina Didaskalu) and their interactions with the changing people of the political ploys (played with sincere verve by Cyrielle Claire, Grigori Manukov, Dimitri Rafalsky, Nathalia Krougly, Amanda Langlet, Jeanne Rambur, Georges Benoît, Emmanuel Salinger among the large and confusing cast). The 'story' emerges from Fyodor's relationship to the political leanings that pull his attention away from Arsinoé and the complications of his physical structure with his intense involvement in the political and ideological climes.

The film works for those with enough savvy to catch all the intrigues of that period in European history. But for a film so completely dependent on rhetoric and smart dialogue this project suffers greatly from the poor subtitles: while most of the French is translated for us, much of the Russian and German is not, as though we all have access to those languages. The result is a static, dry, intense film in which much is lost due to technical flaws. The cast is excellent but the editing and clarity of each character's role falls by the wayside far too often. Rohmer's genius is there, but it is an acquired taste. Would that the viewer had the background knowledge somehow supplied to support the fine story that is being related! Grady Harp, December 06