SoTrumpBelieve
Must See Movie...
Teringer
An Exercise In Nonsense
Mathilde the Guild
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
dromasca
The US and NATO war in Afghanistan did not generate yet too many movies. Certainly, not many good movies. A few war and B-series films dealt with the conflict in a one-sided manner, focusing on the action, demonizing or at best not dealing with the other side but in a very schematic and generally negative manner. Very few dealt with the dilemmas and traumas of the warriors, or of the families back home. The other side was again absent, a far menace at best. Essential Killing - an European co-production directed by Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski with a couple of well known French actors in the lead roles comes from a very different perspective. So different that it falls in the other extreme, and the result is in my opinion a failure.Let me start with the good things about this film. It's cinematography is very expressive and fits quite well the subject and the action. A Taliban prisoner is captured by the American or NATO forces after killing three soldiers. He is interrogated with brutality, and then taken aboard the plane to another country, supposed European, certainly with harsh winters and very different from the hot desert he dreams to while fighting for his life. The frozen forests, the orange and white uniforms, the silhouettes of the soldiers, the dogs and the wolves, all fit well. One can wonder what actors like Vincent Gallo and Emmanuelle Seigner do in such a film, but they are here and they do well their job. If 'Essential Killing' was only a survival story, it would have worked, although some details are not completely clear (how does exactly the running prisoner escape the wolves? we just see him walking free after a scene in which he seemed to be turn into pieces by a hoard of about six beasts).The problem is that 'Essential Killing' tries to be more than a survival story in in what it selects to show and what it selects not to show. Yes, the brutal methods of interrogation are repulsive, and transporting prisoners in other countries without a judgment may be against the international laws. Yes, even the harsher enemies are human and they have their dreams and they fight for their lives. Human solidarity also works beyond language or cultural barriers. This is fine as well. However the one sided view of the conflict in which the bad guys are 'humanized' to the edge of idealization (dreaming about the beautiful woman covered by the celestial blue burka, come on!) and the good guys are demonized (did not the three soldiers killed in the opening scene have their dreams too?) can work only for people who landed from another planet or are truly convinced that the Taliban are the good guys and the ones fighting them are the opposite. 'Essential Killing' may tell some kind of a partial truth, but partial truths are often indistinguishable from lies.
ma-cortes
An Afghan POW attempts his escape , but he is captured by the US military in Afghanistan , he is named Mohammed (Vincent Gallo) and is transported to a secret military black site somewhere in the Eastern Europe , being transferred for interrogation (David Price as interrogation officer) at a installation similarly to Guantanamo . When the armed convoy which transports to him suffers a crash accident , Mohammed manages to getaway from his captors , as he escapes across a steep hill, among snowy outdoors and freeze landscapes . Relentlessly chased by an army that officially does not exist, , Monhammed attempts to survive when he finds a countrywoman named Margaret (Emmanuelle Seigner) . This frenzied movie contains pure action-packed , thriller , suspense , frozen hell and thought-provoking moments . This exciting picture results to be a co-production between Poland|Norway|Ireland| Hungary and deals with an interminable chase in which the protagonist finds himself suddenly free and on the run behind the enemy lines , being relentlessly pursued by American troops on a continent he does not know , that seems to see somewhere in the Eastern Europe . Awesome interpretation by Vincent Gallo as Mohammed , a man who must constantly confront the need to murder in order to survive . Gallo is superb as a real Taliban as physical as playing . Vincent Gallo's role demanded him to do things like walk barefoot on the snow with the temperature reaching minus 30 degrees Celsius. In the breastfeeding scene, Vincent Gallo insisted on getting a real lactating woman for the role. Furthermore , there appears in a secondary role Emmanuelle Seigner , Roman Polanski's muse and wife . While some characters are named in the end credits, no names are used in the film itself . Very good and colorful cinematography by Adam Sikora , showing splendidly hostile, snow blanketed forests and cold landscapes . Emotive and sensitive musical score by Pawel Mykietyn . The motion picture was compellingly directed by the Polish Jerzy Skolimowski . He is a prestigious director, playwright, scriptwriter, painter and actor . And one of the best Polish filmmakers along with Roman Polanski and Andrzej Wajda , both of them are good friends . As Skolimowski has directed good films such as ¨Adventures of Gerard¨ , ¨Deep end¨ , ¨The shout¨, ¨The lightship¨ , ¨Success is the best revenge¨ , ¨Torrents of spring¨ , among others .¨Essential Killing¨ rating : Good , better than average , worthwhile watching .
scd20
A Taliban combatant is captured after he kills three American soldiers. We learn little of his backstory -- who he is, or why they find him in Afghanistan's mountainous tribal regions -- but he is captured by American soldiers and shipped off to Poland. He finds himself in a region that is as forbidding and isolated, but more alienating and unfamiliar than his home. When a prisoner convoy gets into an accident, a chase ensues, and the audience, placed within the perspective of the capture, follows his efforts to escape and survive. So much is shown and so little told in this film, we ponder whether to fear or loathe our protagonist. The film is entirely shot from the escapee's perspective, so his is all we have. What are his pursuer's thinking? We don't know in this spare narrative of survival. Where is he? What is a frozen lake? What can he possibly eat to survive. In this alpine nowhere, all of these questions loom ominously and this film.
Dainius8888
You hardly get a good, lasting impression from low budget movies nowadays, so this title, in my view, stands out as a really original and, for that matter, quite an important one. The Polish film makers have really outdone themselves. Of course, at the beginning of the picture I was not confident about it, but after a while it gets decently impressive minute by minute. The movie itself is about war's effect on the humanity and life of one person. How it changes his life forever. But the presentation of this idea is absolutely unique for it's 'fresh vantage point'.I mean there are many movies about war and it's effects and consequences, so you cannot refuse to not praise the filmmakers for the success of the originality of this picture, due to the different point of view towards the subject. Everything in this film was unquestionably fine for me up until the ending. I felt that this ending was unfair. The result COULD have been different. But then, I guess, the ideas in this movie would, in a way, loose their meaning. This point IS argumentative. Concequentaly, the whole plot is decent and the ending... Well, I supposed, It depends on the person watching. The acting by Vincent Gallo is quite impressive. His performance is entertaining enough to keep the audience watching. And everything else is without flaws too. The soundtracks are decent, quite impressive actually for a low budget film. The camera-work is quite picturesque. Practically flawless. Seeing this movie will not disappoint and will leave a memorable impression.
