''Teheran 43'' (Russian: ''Тегеран-43''; French: ''Téhéran 43, Nid d'espions'') is a 1981 Soviet-French-Swiss political thriller film made by

Mosfilm Mosfilm (, ''Mosfil’m'' , initialism and portmanteau of Moscow Films) is a film studio in Moscow 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 fi ...

, ''Mediterraneo Cine'' and ''Pro Dis Film'', directed by

Aleksandr Alov Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Alov (September 26, 1923June 12, 1983, born Lapsker) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter, he was granted the honorary title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1983 (together with Vladimir Naumov). His 1981 film ' ...

and

Vladimir Naumov Vladimir Naumovich Naumov (; 6 December 1927 – 29 November 2021) was a Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and pedagogue. He was the People's Artist of the USSR (1983). He was a schoolmate of Sergei Parajanov at th ...

. It is based on events around

Operation Long Jump Operation Long Jump () was an alleged German plan to simultaneously assassinate Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, the "Big Three" Allied leaders, at the 1943 Tehran Conference during World War II. The operation in Iran ...

, the 1943 attempt by Nazi Germany to

assassinate Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

and

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

during the

Tehran Conference The Tehran Conference (codenamed Eureka) was a strategy meeting of the Allies of World War II, held between Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill from 28 November to 1 December 1943. It was the first of the Allied World Wa ...

. 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 The 12th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 7 to 21 July 1981. The Golden Prizes were awarded to the Brazilian film '' O Homem que Virou Suco'' directed by João Batista de Andrade, the Vietnamese film '' The Abandoned Field: Free ...

in 1981.

Plot

''Teheran 43'' starts in 1980 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The memories of hero Andrei take the story back to 1943. The Germans 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 (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

, 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, an assassin of the Nazis, who was 37 years ago hired to assassinate

and

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

during the

, is holed up in today's Paris at the young French woman Françoise. 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 (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

as a funeral director of a previously murdered Persian. Max also kills the lawyer of the dead, Gérard Simon. But Simon's interpreter Marie and the young Russian Secret agent Andrei get him on the loose. The two have no time for romance but thwart the assassination. They can arrest a fake photographer. 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, 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 and to have spared Max only out of pity. In Paris, the paths of Marie and Andreiand of Marie's daughter Nathalie and police inspector Foche, 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 Natalya Nikolayevna Belokhvostikova (; born July 28, 1951, in Moscow, USSR) is a retired Soviet and Russian actress. She was awarded the title People's Artist of Russia in 1984. Biography Natalia Belokhvostikova was born July 28, 1951, in Moscow ...

as ''Marie/Nathalie'' * Igor Kostolevsky as ''Andrei'' *

Armen Dzhigarkhanyan Armen Borisi Dzhigarkhanyan (3 October 193514 November 2020) was a Soviet Union, Soviet, Armenian, and Russian actor. Born and raised in Yerevan, Dzhigarkhanyan started acting in the academic and Russian theaters of the city, before moving to Mos ...

as ''Max'' *

Alain Delon Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; 8 November 1935 – 18 August 2024) was a French actor, film producer, screenwriter, singer, and businessman. Acknowledged as a cultural and cinematic leading man of the 20th century, Delon emerged as one of ...

as ''Foche'' *

Claude Jade Claude Marcelle Jorré, better known as Claude Jade (; 8 October 1948 – 1 December 2006), was a French actress. She starred as Antoine Doinel#Christine Darbon, Christine in François Truffaut's three films ''Stolen Kisses'' (1968), ''Bed and B ...

as ''Françoise'' *

Albert Filozov Albert Leonidovich Filozov (; 25 June 1937 – 11 April 2016) was a Soviet and Russian actor. He was a People's Artist of Russia.

as ''Scherner'' *

Curd Jürgens Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens (13 December 191518 June 1982) was a German-Austrian stage and film actor. He was usually billed in English-speaking films as Curt Jurgens. He was well known for playing Ernst Udet in ''Des Teufels Gener ...

as ''Legraine'' *

Nikolai Grinko Nikolai Grigoryevich Grinko or Mykola Hryhorovych Hrynko (; ; 22 May 1920 – 10 April 1989) was a Soviet and Ukrainian actor. Biography Nikolai Grinko was born on 22 May 1920 Gleb Strizhenov Gleb Aleksandrovich Strizhenov () (July 21, 1925 – October 4, 1985) was a Soviet stage and film actor. Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1974). He was the older brother of Oleg Strizhenov, who was also an actor. Selected filmography *'' The T ...

as ''Simon'' *

Vsevolod Sanayev Vsevolod Vasilyevich Sanayev (; 25 February 1912, Tula – 27 January 1996, Moscow) was a USSR, Soviet film and stage actor popular in the 1960s–1970s. Sanayev, a Moscow Art Theatre (and later Mossovet Theatre) actor, was honored in 1969 with t ...

as ''Innkeeper'' * Mike Marshall as ''Terrorist on Airplane'' *

Jess Hahn Jesse Beryle Hahn (October 29, 1921June 29, 1998) was an American- French character actor who mostly starred in French films. Biography After serving with the Marines in the Second World War, he moved to France in 1949 and took French citi ...

as ''Terrorist on Airplane'' *

Jacques Roux Jacques Roux (; 21 August 1752 – 10 February 1794) was a radical Roman Catholic Red priest who took an active role in politics during the French Revolution. He skillfully expounded the ideals of popular democracy and classless society to cro ...

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 (, 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, Greece, to a family of Armenian immigrants. Hi ...

and

Mieczysław Weinberg Mieczysław Weinberg (December 8, 1919 – February 26, 1996) was a Polish, Soviet, and Russian composer and pianist. Born in Warsaw to parents who worked in the Yiddish theatre in Poland, his early years were surrounded by music. He taught him ...

Charles Aznavour Charles Aznavour ( ; ; ; born Shahnur Vaghinak Aznavourian; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a Armenians in France, French singer and songwriter of Armenian descent. Aznavour was known for his distinctive vibrato tenor voice: clear and ringi ...

's theme song " Une vie d'amour" 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

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 1981 thriller films Mosfilm films 1980s Russian-language films Swiss thriller 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 Films scored by Georges Garvarentz Films scored by Mieczysław Weinberg