Essential Killing (the film)

[Mark Latimour]

I saw it on the weekend. It was excellent. Has anyone else seen it?

Its probably the first film that I have enjoyed Vincent Gallo in (although in fairness he doesn't speak at all in the film).

[davidprice]

Really? Wow, Talkbass was the last place I expected to see any reference to it. Glad you liked it -- I fully expect many will hate it or not understand it -- I'm in it

[Mark Latimour]

Originally Posted by davidprice

Really? Wow, Talkbass was the last place I expected to see any reference to it. Glad you liked it -- I fully expect many will hate it or not understand it -- I'm in it

What part did you play?

Edit: Wow....just saw what part you played. That was a very cool bit of acting. It was an excellent film, I really enjoyed the pacing of the film and the progression of the main character. I can imagine it might be a little bit uncomfortable to watch for many people, but I think the director made the main cahracter human enough to maintain your interest, but not so much so that you become too sympathetic with him.

How did you get invovled with the film?

[davidprice]

Thank you very much. It was great fun and a great experience all the way around.

I've done some TV serials and was called about it. Then did the standard audition and then call-backs as I read for a number of the different parts and got moved around - or 'promoted'.

Yes, it may be uncomfortable for many people to watch but, more than that, it's not just unconventional it's almost counter-conventional and I think it is very different from what many people expect. Not regular popcorn entertainment. I like it and am happy you did, too! Thanks again for your kind words on my bit.

[Mark Latimour]

Originally Posted by davidprice

Yes, it may be uncomfortable for many people to watch but, more than that, it's not just unconventional it's almost counter-conventional and I think it is very different from what many people expect. Not regular popcorn entertainment. I like it and am happy you did, too! Thanks again for your kind words on my bit.

For those just "looking in" on this thrad, David here plays one of the few significant talking parts in the film (the film is fairly sparse on dialogue). Not only is this an excellent film, but a fellow TBer has a reasonably prominent part in the film!

Check it out if its the kind of movie your local cinema plays!

[davidprice]

Thanks again, Mark - and for helping spread the word on it. It's currently in theaters across the UK and Canada and opens in France next week.

I agree on the pacing. Even if it gives people false expectations at the beginning as it plays out in reverse of 'normal' and gets pretty hallucinatory, desperate and existential. In fact, Tarantino congratulated Skolimowski on this point specifically saying that if it had missed even one beat, the whole thing would have failed - but didn't - at least in Tarantino's opinion.

And, yes, not a dialog heavy movie

[bassybill]

Plot synopsis please?

[davidprice]

Originally Posted by bassybill

Plot synopsis please?

Sight & Sound review: BFI | Sight & Sound | Film review: Essential Killing (2010)

The Guardian: Essential Killing

Time Out: Essential Killing Review. Movie Reviews - Film - Time Out London

The Time Out one is a good synopsis:

Maintaining the quality of 2008’s sadly unreleased ‘Four Nights with Anna’ – which marked the return to filmmaking of Polish maverick Jerzy Skolimowski after a 17-year sabbatical as a painter – ‘Essential Killing’ is a ruthless, darkly funny survival movie charged with provocative political undertones. Vincent Gallo delivers a career-best performance (helped no end by the fact he is silent throughout) as a nameless, petrified Jihadi soldier who is captured by American troops, subjected to torture and who then escapes into a snowy wilderness while being rendered across country. The film asks how low would you go to preserve your own life, as Gallo’s encroaching delirium leads him to plumb ever more base depths. Delivering an absolute minimum of context, the film dares us to forge our own reasons for rooting for or despising this savage. Also, the way in which Gallo’s suffering is translated through a cascade of sound and images makes ‘Essential Killing’ a film to utter in the same breath as Elem Klimov’s sense-battering 1985 World War II film, ‘Come and See’.

[Mark Latimour]

Originally Posted by bassybill

Plot synopsis please?

A "terrorist" (its never really clear which country he is taken from or where he ends up - the character doesn't even have a name until the credits) is captured by the US and interrogated and then "sent" somewhere. On the way in a prisoner transport the transport crashes and he is on his own in a snowy mountainous region of Eastern Europe. The film follow the terrorist as he tries to survive on his own whilst being tracked by the soldiers. The terrorist is deaf (as a result of the circumstances of his capture) and so there is almost no dialogue.

The film shows the extent that the terrorist will go to survive, but at the same time challenges the audience by pushing the actions to see how far your sympathies may extend. Its an interesting film. The soundtrack is cool as is the plot and Vincent Gallo is excellent.

[bassybill]

Interesting, well worth checking out, I think. Thanks for the summary (Mark) and the links (David).

[davidprice]

One on topic note I'd add is Gallo is quite a good bass player (we talked about it a bit) and the film had many musicians involved. Of course, Gallo, Emmanuelle Seigner has CDs out, the drunk farmers are actually a band, a couple of the soldiers are Warsaw based American DJs and the director himself, in addition to being an accomplished poet, boxer, painter, writer and filmmaker was also a jazz drummer.

[bassrique]

Originally Posted by Mark Latimour

What part did you play?

Edit: Wow....just saw what part you played. That was a very cool bit of acting. It was an excellent film, I really enjoyed the pacing of the film and the progression of the main character. I can imagine it might be a little bit uncomfortable to watch for many people, but I think the director made the main cahracter human enough to maintain your interest, but not so much so that you become too sympathetic with him.

How did you get invovled with the film?

Where did you see the part davidprice played?

[Mark Latimour]

Originally Posted by bassrique

Where did you see the part davidprice played?

Wikipedia lists the cast!

[davidprice]

Originally Posted by Mark Latimour

Wikipedia lists the cast!

from the movie:

all the legal stuff I have to include: © Skopia Film/HanWay Films/Element Pictures/Cylinder Pictures/Mythberg Films/Canal+

Good review I just read: Hour.ca - Film - Essential Killing

and very good BBC piece: BBC - BBC Radio 4 Programmes - Front Row, Essential Killing reviewed

[davidprice]

PS: the trailer: IMDb Video: Essential Killing

I'm of mixed feelings with the trailer though as it makes it look like more of an action film than it is when it is very much an arthouse film.

[BluesMan1]

Some scenes remind me of "Valhalla Rising" for some reason.

[davidprice]

Originally Posted by BluesMan1

Some scenes remind me of "Valhalla Rising" for some reason.

There is a similar 'vibe' to some parts, yes. Though I think EK moves better overall and feels like it has a stronger concept. I'd also say the violence is less overt. I liked Valhalla Rising but it felt like a lesser Aguirre: The Wrath of God to me.
Le Monde today gave EK their highest rating of "EXCELLENT" (5 stars)

[BluesMan1]

Originally Posted by davidprice

There is a similar 'vibe' to some parts, yes. Though I think EK moves better overall and feels like it has a stronger concept. I'd also say the violence is less overt. I liked Valhalla Rising but it felt like a lesser Aguirre: The Wrath of God to me.
Le Monde today gave EK their highest rating of "EXCELLENT" (5 stars)

Good job, by the way. You are right, VR seemed a little contrived, EK flowed more naturally.

[davidprice]

Thanks very much - I didn't realize you had actually seen EK (just assumed you were going off the trailer). I don't have anything at all against VR (it does divide many people like EK does, too, so I can feel some comradeship with it), I just think Skolimowski is a more advanced director.

[davidprice]

BTW for those in the UK, look for this from the same director in May: YouTube - Deep End (1970) - in cinemas 6 May 2011
very cool and twisted view of the end of the swinging '60s in London (something the director knew about - his neighbor in the same building in London was Jimi Hendrix!)