***Possible spoilers***<br /><br />In 1946 Stalin invited all russians living abroad to return to the Soviet Union in order to "rebuild" their country. Among others, the young doctor Alexei (Oleg Menchikov) and his french wife Marie (Sandrine Bonnaire) succomb to this siren-song. In their credulity they quickly become victims of Stalins persecution complex. The first thing they see when they leave their ship in Odessa is a father separated from his son, the son executed on the spot. In Stalins eyes, 9O% of the people married to russians are agents for the CIA, enemies of the people. And she, the french woman, is no exeption for the soviet authorities. They take her passport, interrogations and beatings follow.<br /><br />Her husband follows the party line and works his way up. Soon he becomes a "trusted" member of the party. But Marie can not live in this atmosphere of permanent surveillance, where she has to watch every word and people "disappear".<br /><br />The couple gets a new subtenant, the young Sacha (Sergei Bodrov Jr.)whose grandmother was executed as "traitor" because she was too friendly to Marie. More and more Marie suspects that her husband has not really the intention to leave the country as he promised her. She implores Gabrielle (Catherine Deneuve) a french actress on tour in the Soviet Union to help her. When she discovers that Alexei has a liaison with a neighbor, Olga, she begins an affair with Sacha. Her hope is, that, as member of the national swimming club, he will be able to defect to the west and help her escape too...<br /><br />You may think that this film fulfills every stereotype about life in the Soviet Union. Shabby factories, where the works manager shows no consideration for the health of his workers, torture, labor camps, friends who spy on each other (Alexei:"Have you read this letter?" Olga: "No, it's in french." Alexei: "In my youth I learned that you're not supposed to read other people's letters." Olga:"We must have had different childhoods:").<br /><br />Yes. it sounds like a cliche, but all this really happened. It is a true story, filmed on the original places in France, the Ukraine and Bulgaria. There really was a KGB, there really were athletes who defected to the west, and - believe it or not - there were even prominent persons like Gabrielle who commited themselves to freedom - and succeeded.<br /><br />Many will find this slow and depressing film a chore to sit through, but it depicts an era that should never be forgotten. Catherine Deneuve has only a small role, but Sandrine Bonnaire is just excellent in her part, honest and straightforward. But it's her partner, Oleg Menchikov who is a real revelation in this film. When the viewer has arrived to the point of really mistrusting him, he suddenly proves his real intentions by a sacrifice so immense, that the viewer barely dares believe it - and all is true! If you think that you can do without glamour, special effects or super-heroes Hollywood-style for once, you will be richly rewarded with a gripping story, first-rate performances and the feeling that you have seen something worthy.