‘The Helsinki Effect’ review: Timely doc revisits pivotal East/West summit

Dir/scr: Arthur Franck. Finland/Germany/Norway. 2025. 88mins

In the summertime of 1975, with the icy fingers of the Chilly Struggle nonetheless exerting a decent grip on world politics, the leaders of eight socialist and 27 capitalist international locations met in Helsinki for the Convention for Safety and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE). After prolonged diplomatic negotiations, the Helskinki Remaining Act – meant to bridge the hole between East and West – was signed. It was a pivotal second in historical past: a paradigm shift was set in movement that not even the geopolitical heavy-hitter attendees may have anticipated. It was additionally, acknowledges Finnish author/director Arthur Franck, “very, very boring.” Casting an irreverent however politically astute eye over archival footage and newly declassified transcripts of high-level conversations, this full of life essay turns the slowly grinding machine of diplomacy right into a pacey, compelling journey.

 Energetic essay

Franck, whose earlier function documentaries embody The Hypnotist (2019), which additionally screened at CPH:DOX, is appropriate in his evaluation that the CSCE is doubtlessly a stuffy topic. However along with his deft and playful dealing with of the fabric, there’s one other component that works within the movie’s favour: the truth that at this notably uneven second in historical past, The Helsinki Impact, with its insights into the behind the scenes machinations and manoeuvring, may hardly be extra well timed.

The usage of AI know-how to recreate the talking voices of Soviet Basic Secretary Leonid Brezhnev and US Nationwide Safety Advisor Henry Kissinger could show to be a stumbling block for some audiences. However the movie’s light-footed dance via its heavyweight themes ought to make it a title of curiosity at additional festivals and for specialist documentary distributors.

Franck’s recent and casual strategy to the fabric entails incorporating himself as a personality within the movie from the outset. Footage of the pivotal doc signing units the scene – an enormous, crescent-shaped desk in Finlandia Corridor adorned (bizarrely) with what appears like overgrown astroturf; the bristling telephoto lenses of the world’s press; a percussive, ticking-clock rating. However simply as Brezhnev is about to place pen to paper, Franck freezes the picture and tells us, in a chatty, conversational voiceover, that, “This man is about to make an enormous mistake.”

Franck goes on to admit that, though the convention passed off in his residence metropolis, he knew little or no about it till lately. “I assumed making this movie was going to be straightforward,” he confides. In spite of everything, the geopolitical stars of the period arrived in Helsinki collectively to finish the Chilly Struggle, and there was an unlimited quantity of footage to select from. The problem, he quickly realises, is that negotiations have been stultifying and largely impenetrable, even to the individuals who have been immediately collaborating in them. “This appears vital,” he says. “However how can I make it fascinating?”

To this finish, Franck deploys each instrument accessible to him as an archival documentarian. The movie is punctuated with illustrative classic footage of European absurdity – individuals in ridiculous costumes and foolish hats abound. There are quite a few pictures of CSCE delegates nodding off throughout the infinite speeches. He’s extra within the moments earlier than tv broadcasts, with crooked backdrops and botched traces, than he’s within the remaining polished merchandise.

Franck’s breezy narration makes the dense negotiations refreshingly accessible: the non-binding nature of the ultimate doc, for instance, makes it right into a “glorified pinky-swear”. After which there’s the creation of AI voices for Kissinger and Brezhnev, a tool that allows Franck to stage telephone conversations with every man to ask questions in regards to the convention and the Chilly Struggle (their solutions are taken from the lads’s personal phrases, drawn from transcripts, statements and books).

The parallels with the present political local weather are usually not overtly pressured however they’re unavoidable, one thing which makes the image uneasy viewing at occasions. Franck leaves us with a persuasive remaining thought: that nevertheless tedious and interminable the method of diplomacy is likely to be, it’s going to all the time be preferable to the choice.