Tótems

I can't believe more haven't rated it. Full of intrigue, great writing and acting and especially from the very beautiful Kolesnikova whew. If you like serious spy shows you don't want to miss this.

I really enjoyed this eight part series set around the Cold War in 1965. I thought the characters were well portrayed were very believable, each episode was very exciting.

Totems is a love story between two enemy spies. From East Berlin to Paris, from Northern Africa to the USSR, the action thriller is set in 1964 in the midst of the Cold War. It follows Francis Morizet, secret agent, struggling to carry the embarrassingly damaging and dark secret of a father's past while making his first entry into the field where he fatefully stumbles upon Lyudmila, a newly "recruited" KGB operative who is unwillingly thrust into the middle of continuous illegal intelligence operations between the SDECE and the CIA. Francis and Lyudmila Goloubeva (Vera Kolesnikova)find themselves struggling mightily for their countries and against the love they feel for each other.

Francis was recruited by Charles Contignet (Lambert Wilson) to dig into top-secret documents regarding a Russian orbiter and satellite/weapon, already under surveillance by French and CIA Intelligence. At the same time, Lyudmila, who is the daughter of Boris Goloubeva (Aleksey Guskov), a Russian scientist who plays a major role in development of the satellite/weapon currently being surveilled. Lyudmila's aspiration to be a pianist is interrupted by her forced KGB recruitment to spy on her father.

Totems, like many spy thriller genre films, assists the viewer in drawing a parallel or parallels with specific, current and present-day surveillance states and government largess by showing how two or more countries can wage an alleged "cold war" and use that scenario to bypass various personal and professional boundaries in order to keep an eye on those governments' own citizenry- exactly what we see happening in countries like the China, Russia, Argentina, Iran, Syria, Cuba, North Korea, Thailand, etc.

However, the multi-layered, superior cinema of Totems is an examination of far more than the spy-related shenanigans, roguery and chicanery. Totems is equally concerned with the interesting and compelling personal lives of the people trapped in the nightmarish suspense of the intelligence quagmire and espionage turmoil- the "antagonist to amours" romance between Lyudmila and Francis which evolves into a beautifully presented transcendence cold war into hot romance.

It's a curious thing that the series is not as well known as it is, since it seems to me so excellent. Virtually all the acting is genuine and quality, and it combines in a masterful way both action and depth. The twists and turns in the plot line kept you on your toes but also made you think, and the difficult scenarios in which the characters are placed in their decisions in the same gave one pause. Honestly, to really understand what actually happened in the latter part of the series I would have to go back and rewatch a few episodes.

I do have to say, however, that Larry's French is abominable!

This is the best series I have seen in a long time. A great plot, perfect pacing, great acting and direction, and impressive production values. Many scenes are shot in evocative and atmospheric locations in Prague, Paris, Moscow, etc. I hope Amazon keep making series' of this high quality.