Synopsis

Global peace is at risk. The borders of Western democracies and Communist Russia hang in the balance. Can diplomacy effectively conclude the Cold War? In this witty, clever, and insightful film about geopolitical gamesmanship, Finnish filmmaker Arthur Franck looks back at the 1973 Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), a seemingly banal meeting of international leaders in his native Helsinki that would have far-reaching consequences for the future of our current global politics.

Using hundreds of hours of archival footage and amusingly off-kilter TV broadcasts, declassified documents, and some help from cheeky AI-generated voices, Franck brings to life the conference and the central figures of this high-stakes chess match, from a cynical Henry Kissinger to a boisterous Leonid Brezhnev. Following up on the promise of his 2019 Festival selection The Hypnotist, Franck returns with an equally droll historical docudrama uncovering truths, both humorous and heady, about the surprising results that can come from world leaders talking to each other.

Synopsis

Returning to the house where his family was brutally murdered during the war, “the man who refuses to die” (Jorma Tommila) dismantles it, loads it on a truck, and is determined to rebuild it somewhere safe in their honor. When the Red Army commander who killed his family (Stephen Lang) comes back hellbent on finishing the job, a relentless, eye-popping cross-country chase ensues—a fight to the death, full of clever, unbelievable action set pieces.