This is a rough film to get through. Almost
like being mugged in an alleyway for 2 hours plus. Brutal, grim, grimy, dark
and oppressively downbeat. It is based on the first novel of a trilogy from
Tom Rob Smith that I have not read, but for much of the film you sit there
wondering how is there going to be a second novel - but it all wraps up at
the last minute like a bequest in the will of your Great Aunt who you didn't
even know existed. It takes place in the real Heart of Darkness - the 1950's
Soviet Union with Stalin initiating another purge all through the country
where the smallest criticism to the wrong person will get you sent to Siberia
if you are lucky and every one is forced to be an informer. Terrifying times.
Into this depressing milieu is a member
of the Ministry of State Security (MGB), Leo Demidov - an ex war hero, an
orphan and now part of the machinery that grinds people down. And he is our
hero in the film. Played by Tom Hardy who gives him a thuggish blocky appearance,
none too eloquent or subtle - but still retaining a stubborn slice of humanity
that the system hasn't yet ripped out of him. He is married to Raisa, who
he fell in love with at first sight but isn't sensitive enough to grasp how
much she dislikes him and only married him because she thought you had to
say yes to someone from the MGB. She is portrayed by Noomi Rapace (The Girl
with the Dragon Tattoo) in a mainly dramatic role but she gets in a few hits
as well.
Leo thinks all is well in his world - a
beautiful wife, a much bigger apartment than most and on the upward ladder
at work. But this is the Soviet Union - like Alice in Wonderland - where
a hole is waiting for you to fall into never to emerge. A dead naked child
is found by the railroad track and the authorities rule an accident. It can't
be murder because the State Motto is In Paradise there is No Murder. To go
against that motto is dangerous. Still Leo asks for an autopsy because it
seems obvious to him that the child was murdered. This tips over the first
domino is a series of cascading dominos that spell disaster for Leo and his
wife.
His wife is suddenly on a list of names
that a so-called traitor gave under torture. Leo is asked to prove it - he
is advised by friends to denounce her no matter if she is guilty or not -
to save himself and others. He refuses and as a punishment they both are
sent to hell and gone where he has a lowly rank under the command of General
Nesterov (Gary Oldman) and she is the school janitor and their apartment
is a shithole and he is not allowed to leave the city. But then another dead
child shows up with its intestines also having been removed and Leo becomes
obsessed with tracking the killer down when he realizes a serial killer is
murdering children all over the country - and has to go through absolute
hell to do it. A hard way to save a marriage!
As I said this was rough - just unrelenting
ugliness - I took a break or two along the way - but am glad I finished it.
The acting is great - uncompromising - not a shred of humor from them and
even the humanity they display is more of a grunt than a shout - only their
Russian accents annoyed me (and at times my old ears had a problem understanding
it). I don't see the point. Why do films do this? To make it more authentic?
If we can get Brits speaking the Queen's English as Romans and Greeks and
everything else, why not as Russians? The film was inspired - if that is
the correct word to use - by a real life serial killer in Russia.
