''Final Assignment'' is a 1980

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

thriller drama film, written by Marc Rosen and directed by

Paul Almond Paul Almond (April 26, 1931 – April 9, 2015) was a Canadian television and motion picture screenwriter, director, producer, and novelist. He is most known for being the director of the first film in the '' Up'' series. Life and career Paul A ...

Gerald Pratley Gerald Arthur Pratley (September 3, 1923 – March 14, 2011) was a Canadian film critic and historian.Piers Handling"Gerald Arthur Pratley" ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', September 18, 2011. A longtime film critic for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp ...

, ''A Century of Canadian Cinema''. Lynx Images, 2003. . p. 77.

Plot

In this complex spy caper, Nicole (

Geneviève Bujold Geneviève Bujold (; born July 1, 1942) is a Canadian actress. For her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the period drama film ''Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969), Bujold received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her other film cre ...

) is a Canadian broadcast journalist working on assignment in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. She is there to cover a visit by the Canadian Prime Minister, but along the way she discovers an unethical experimentation on children involving the use of steroids, she is also involved in smuggling out a girl for emergency brain surgery. Things get complicated when in the process, she develops a romantic liaison with yoshita (

Michael York Michael York OBE (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television and stage actor. After performing on-stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Ro ...

), a bureaucrat in the Soviet press corps whose job is to watch her during her stay. A rich businessman (

Burgess Meredith Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed theater, film, and television. Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "on ...

) she knows happens to be in Russia at the same time, and she asks him to help her in the smuggling attempt. The film's cast also includes Colleen Dewhurst and

Richard Gabourie Richard Gabourie (April 30, 1939 – October 11, 2004) was a Canadian actor, screenwriter and film producer, most noted for winning the Canadian Film Award for Best Actor in 1978 for '' Three Card Monte''. Born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Gabouri ...

Production

The film had originally been slated to be directed by

Silvio Narizzano Silvio Narizzano (8 February 192726 July 2011) was a Canadian film and television director who worked primarily in the United Kingdom. His directorial credits included the critically acclaimed films '' Georgy Girl'' (1966) and ''Loot'' (1970), w ...

, although he left the production and Almond was brought in. Production was further complicated when the Soviet government refused Almond's request for stock film footage of

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

and

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, due to its displeasure at Canada's diplomatic response to the 1979

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Sovie ...

. Dewhurst described her experience working on the film as "summer stock in Podunk". She clarified that "the crew was terrific. The hierarchy was at fault. I keep praying that it will never come out. I have no comment about Mr. Almond and you can write that down. You will never see four more confused actors on the screen in your life."Sid Adilman, "Colleen Dewhurst is coming home". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'', March 22, 1980.

Critical response

In his 2003 book ''A Century of Canadian Cinema'', film scholar Gerald Pratley trashed the film, calling it "probably the worst spy movie ever made".

References

External links

Final Assignment
at Allmovie
Final Assignment
at

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

English-language Canadian films 1980 films Films set in Montreal Films directed by Paul Almond Films set in the Soviet Union Cold War films Canadian thriller drama films 1980s English-language films 1980s Canadian films {{1980s-Canada-film-stub