They have been warned by sources from outside the DGSE (Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure): the operation they are working on is destined to fail – a set-up, actually. And still, the Action Division operatives get sent into the field. Just like the film Rebellion by Mathieu Kassovitz, Secret Agents is rooted in a true story of violence abroad: the 1985 ‘Satanic Operation’, popularly remembered as the sinking of Greenpeace’s vessel the Rainbow Warrior.
Frédéric Schoendoerffer and his co-authors short-circuited this seedy piece of history with additional plot lines addressing illegal arms dealing; the last remnants of colonialism in the form of carefully orchestrated (and financed) civil unrest all over Africa; and the role of new Russian money in the shifting post-Cold War landscape of world-wide intrigue and power games. Rarely has Frédéric been as close to his father, legendary war-adventure literator/filmmaker Pierre Schoendoerffer, as he is here. For isn’t Secret Agents above all a Conradian journey into the heart of darkness?
Film details
- Countries of production
- France, Italy, Spain
- Year
- 2004
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2017
- Length
- 109"
- Medium/Format
- 35mm
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