HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Teheran 43'' (Russian: ''Тегеран-43''; French: ''Téhéran 43, Nid d'espions'') is a 1981 Soviet-French-Swiss political thriller film made by
Mosfilm Mosfilm (russian: Мосфильм, ''Mosfil’m'' ) is a film studio which is among the largest and oldest in the Russian Federation and in Europe. Founded in 1924 in the USSR as a production unit of that nation's film monopoly, its output inclu ...
, ''Mediterraneo Cine'' and ''Pro Dis Film'', directed by
Aleksandr Alov Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Alov (russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович А́лов) (September 26, 1923  – June 12, 1983) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter, he was granted the honorary title of People's Artist o ...
and
Vladimir Naumov Vladimir Naumovich Naumov (russian: Влади́мир Нау́мович Нау́мов; 6 December 1927 – 29 November 2021) was a Russian film director and writer. Naumov was named People’s Artist of the USSR in 1983. He was a schoolmate o ...
. It is based on events around Operation Long Jump, the 1943 attempt by Nazi Germany to
assassinate Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
,
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...
and
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
during the
Tehran Conference The Tehran Conference ( codenamed Eureka) was a strategy meeting of Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill from 28 November to 1 December 1943, after the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran. It was held in the Soviet Union's embass ...
. The film was the leader of Soviet distribution in 1981 and had 47.5 million viewers. It won the Golden Prize at the 12th Moscow International Film Festival in 1981.


Plot

''Teheran 43'' starts in 1980 in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
. The memories of hero Andrei take the story back to 1943. The
Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...
planned to assassinate the three men 37 years later, and the German agent Max lives with Françoise, a young Parisian woman, who hides him. But another
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
, Scherner, is hunting down Max who failed to carry out the planned assassinations. Max trusts Françoise but he does not know that she works for Scherner. Another plot in the movie is the romance between Andrei and the French woman Marie in 1943, followed in 1980. Max Richard ( Armen Dzhigarkhanyan), an assassin of the Nazis, who was 37 years ago hired to assassinate
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...
,
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
and Franklin D. Roosevelt during the
Tehran Conference The Tehran Conference ( codenamed Eureka) was a strategy meeting of Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill from 28 November to 1 December 1943, after the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran. It was held in the Soviet Union's embass ...
, is holed up in today's Paris at the young French woman Françoise ( Claude Jade). In flashbacks, he describes Françoise who claims to be a neighbor in his apartment because she mistook the door, the assassination attempts. Max was brought in 1943 to
Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
as a funeral director of a previously murdered Persian. Max also kills the lawyer of the dead, Gérard Simon ( Gleb Strizhenov). But Simon's interpreter Marie ( Natalya Belokhvostikova) and the young Russian Secret agent Andrei (
Igor Kostolevsky Igor Matveyevich Kostolevsky (russian: Игорь Матвеевич Костолевский; born 10 September 1948) is a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. He has received the People's Artist of Russia title in 1995. Kostolevsky is best k ...
) get him on the loose. The two have no time for romance but thwart the assassination. They can arrest a fake photographer (
Georges Géret Georges Géret (18 October 1924 – 7 April 1996) was a French film actor. He appeared in over 80 films between 1954 and 1992. He was born in Lyon, France. Selected filmography * '' The Unfrocked One'' (1954) - Un militaire à l'Oflag et � ...
). The man who posed as a photographer and cinematographer "Dennis Pew" had a gun in his movie camera. Andrei, who cares for the safety of the young woman, sends Marie, who is in love with him, to France. They do not see each other again. When Max wants to publish his memoirs and documents in Paris today with the help of the lawyer Legraine ( Curd Jürgens), Andrei travels to Paris. At an auction of Max's documents in London, Andrej sees a young woman who is very similar to Marie. She is Marie's daughter Nathalie. Françoise, meanwhile Max's mistress, also pursues her own goals. She claims to work for his former client Scherner (
Albert Filozov Albert Leonidovich Filozov (russian: Альбepт Лeoнидoвич Филозoв; 25 June 1937 – 11 April 2016) was a Soviet and Russian actor. He was a People's Artist of Russia.Alain Delon Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; born 8 November 1935) is a French actor and filmmaker. He was one of Europe's most prominent actors and screen sex symbols in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, he won the César Award for Best Actor for h ...
), who chases the former masterminds around Scherner, intersect. During a plane hijacking initiated by Scherner, Andrei meets Nathalie again. Foche, who wants to protect Nathalie's mother, is assassinated in the back. Max gets scared when Marie is killed as a former witness after a short reunion with Andrei. Then, Françoise takes him to a new hiding place. Andrei visits Nathalie and learns from her that Marie loved him all those years. She told her daughter about swimming together and told her about the dolphins, but those were just her dreams. In his new hideout, Max is shot by Scherner's men. Legraine interrogates Scherner and Françoise; possibly, he will negotiate with them about the manuscript. Andrei travels back to Moscow.


Cast

* Natalya Belokhvostikova as ''Marie/Nathalie'' *
Igor Kostolevsky Igor Matveyevich Kostolevsky (russian: Игорь Матвеевич Костолевский; born 10 September 1948) is a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. He has received the People's Artist of Russia title in 1995. Kostolevsky is best k ...
as ''Andrei'' * Armen Dzhigarkhanyan as ''Max'' *
Alain Delon Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; born 8 November 1935) is a French actor and filmmaker. He was one of Europe's most prominent actors and screen sex symbols in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, he won the César Award for Best Actor for h ...
as ''Foche'' * Claude Jade as ''Françoise'' *
Albert Filozov Albert Leonidovich Filozov (russian: Альбepт Лeoнидoвич Филозoв; 25 June 1937 – 11 April 2016) was a Soviet and Russian actor. He was a People's Artist of Russia.Curd Jürgens as ''Legraine'' *
Nikolai Grinko Nikolai Grigoryevich Grinko or Mykola Hryhorovych Hrynko ( uk, Микола Григорович Гринько; russian: Никола́й Григо́рьевич Гринько́; 22 May 1920, Kherson – 10 April 1989, Kyiv was a Soviet ...
as ''Hermolin'' * Gleb Strizhenov as ''Simon'' * Vsevolod Sanayev as ''Innkeeper'' * Mike Marshall as ''Terrorist on Airplane'' * Jess Hahn as ''Terrorist on Airplane'' * Jacques Roux as ''Mr Johnson'' * Evelyne Kraft as ''false secretary'' * Natacha Naumova as ''Marie (child)''


Soundtrack

The music score for the movie was composed by
Georges Garvarentz Georges Diran Garvarentz ( hy, Ժորժ Տիրան Կառվարենց, 1 April 1932 - 19 March 1993) was an Armenian-French composer, noted for his music for films and Charles Aznavour's songs. Biography Georges Garvarentz was born in Athens, ...
and
Mieczysław Weinberg Mieczysław Weinberg (8 December 1919 – 26 February 1996) was a Polish-born Soviet composer and pianist. Names Much confusion has been caused by different renditions of the composer's names. In official Polish documents made before he mov ...
.
Charles Aznavour Charles Aznavour ( , ; born Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian, hy, Շահնուր Վաղինակ Ազնավուրեան, ; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a French-Armenian singer, lyricist, actor and diplomat. Aznavour was known for his dist ...
's theme song "
Une vie d'amour "Une vie d'amour" (A life of love) is a song written by Charles Aznavour to the music of Georges Garvarentz. The Russian lyrics of the song were written by Natalia Konchalovsky. History The original version, sung by Aznavour in French, was introd ...
" became very popular in the Soviet Union which prompted the singer to record a Russian version titled ''Vechnaya lyubov'' (Eternal Love). Aznavour also sung the French version in duet with Mireille Matthieu.


Release and reception

With 47.5 million admissions, the film was the most popular film of 1981 in the Soviet Union. It also won the Golden Prize at the 12th Moscow International Film Festival in 1981. It was a flop in France, having only 94,335 admissions.


References


External links

* *
Review by Darius Kadivar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teheran-43 1981 films 1981 drama films Mosfilm films 1980s Russian-language films Swiss thriller drama films 1981 in the Soviet Union Films directed by Aleksandr Alov Films directed by Vladimir Naumov Films set in 1943 Films set in 1980 Films set in Paris Films set in Tehran French nonlinear narrative films World War II spy films Films shot in Baku 1981 multilingual films French multilingual films Soviet multilingual films Films shot in Paris Films about assassinations Films about terrorism in Europe 1980s French films