Essential Killing (2010)

It's so boring and predictable that it _almost_ becomes funny. There is no dialogue. There is no deeper understanding to be gained. It's the story you will experience by buying vodka for your last money and getting wasted in a foreign neighborhood. Except you probably won't kill anybody and I don't see any justification for that.I don't know what it is supposed to convey. It's sick fantasy and that the snowy valley turns out to be Poland at the end just confirms that the crew had no idea about the world. Save your money. If you want some Western Culture self-hate you can buy vodka and drink by yourself. At least you won't bother anyone.

I don't agree that this film is a total waste of time nor would I urge a friend to watch it. It certainly has merits and can't be slated for lack of dialogue - the protagonist does not speak or understand the language in the land in which he finds himself! It seems that some reviewers think that he should be speaking to himself (perhaps as a kind of narrator) which would in my view diminish the impact of the audio that is present. I confess that Gallo is not my favourite actor - there is something about his overplayed anguish or emotional vacancy (in other work) that irritates and in my opinion borders on self-indulgent. But in saying that I would always watch a V. Gallo movie for their content but wish that he would dominate less. But in this particular movie, his character is central and leads us through some beautiful and unforgiving terrain and of course plenty of 'essential killing'. I guess whether or not we view it as 'essential' rests upon whether we find the main character sympathetic or not and this (despite all the holes in the telling, pointed out in other reviews) is where I run out of interest. I never cared enough to invest in this character, not even a little, so was removed from any outcome for him or the peripheral others he encountered. I was more interested in the visuals of this movie and the audioscape, which were at times alarming but always engaging.

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 .

It is or better was, really rough to rate this movie. On one hand you have the powerhouse performance by Vincent Gallo, on the other hand, you have a movie that does not live up to this performance. Of course the intentions were more than good. The story has a few things to say (the animal nature, survival and more), but the movie itself is never coherent enough or driven enough to bring home those points.While it is surely intended to be random (or look random), this is also another fact, that does contribute to the fact, that the movie drags and feels longer than it actually is. There are ambiguous things happening, but overall it is not as subtle as it could and judging by the overall idea, should be. So while it won't appeal to Entertainment hunters from the get-go, it is very likely, that it will repel the target audience too.