User reviews

All throughout watching "Essential Killing", the movie reminded me of the 1970's movie "Figures in a Landscape"; directed by Joseph Losey and starring Robert Shaw and Malcolm McDowell. Now, when browsing through the external reviews, I notice that Roger Ebert mentions that same film as well, so that means my observations can't be that stupid. Ha, maybe I should go work for the Chicago Sun Times! Anyways, "Figures in a Landscape" is a rather obscure and little known cult gem from the early 70's with a very bizarre narrative structure and substance. The film simply revolves on two escaped convicts nervously running across a desolate area, while chased by a menacing black helicopter and later also by army patrols on foot. All throughout that film, You won't develop any sympathy for the two fugitives - as they commit some truly vile acts along their way – but their journey nevertheless remains fascinating to behold. Well, there you go, Jerzy Skolimowski's new film "Essential Killing" is pretty much exactly like that. The widely acclaimed and professionally offbeat actor Vincent Gallo depicts a nervous Taliban terrorist named Mohammed. That alone is already quite courageous and controversial for an American actor, but Gallo has got several weird title choices in his repertoire. Shortly after his deportation, for murdering three US mariners in Afghanistan with a bazooka, Mohammed manages to escape during the prison transport and the rest of the film illustrates his harsh and devastating to remain at large. Not only does he has to outrun the much better prepared and equipped military forces who are continuously on his tail, he also has to confront a very uneven and hostile landscape without any food or apt clothing. Just like in the aforementioned "Figures in a Landscape", you can't (and I presume you're also not supposed to) develop much feelings of sympathy for the protagonist. After all, he's a Taliban terrorist – something of which we're reminded about occasionally through flashbacks about his training period – and he does kill several innocent people throughout his escape attempt. Killing that are essential for him to remain in freedom, hence the title. Obviously "Essential Killing" isn't the type of which you can say you enjoyed the viewing. The subject matter is dead serious, the narrative wants you to remain objective throughout and our lead actor doesn't have a single line of monologue or thoughts. Nonetheless this film is worth checking out, especially for the more demanding type of cinema fanatic, for various other reasons. First and foremost, there's Vincent Gallo's undeniably impressive performance. His role is both physically and mentally exhausting and you can clearly see that none of his emotions are staged, including the fatigue, famish and agony. How many actors, who have already achieved a certain status, do you know will be eager to do stuff like walk barefoot through the snow with a temperature reaching minus 30 degrees Celsius? The enchanting Emmanuelle Seigner receives second billing, but her role is limited to a small chapter near the end of the movie. The film itself is very absorbing, even without Gallo's tour-de-force performance. Every shot, every inch of the landscape seems precisely measured and re-considered at least a dozen times before featuring in the film. The choreography is simply wonderful and the locations – apparently a mixture between Polish and Norwegian – are almost continuously breathtaking. "Essential Killing" is a remarkable and memorable film, albeit not necessarily apt for all tastes.

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 .

I can't say that 'Essential Killing' is essential viewing. It's about a man named Mohammed (Vincent Gallo), a terrorist on the run from the US army in Afghanistan. Mohammed is captured and detained in a Guantanamo Bay facsimile, where he is given the treatment we've all read about. But en route to being transferred, perhaps extradited, the car he's in crashes on the snowy roads of Poland where he makes good his escape. The rest of the film is a chase.

One thing the film tries to do is humanise Mohammed. Recurring visions of his unveiled wife and child, and excerpts from the Koran, influence us into believing that Mohammed himself isn't a threat, but the fascistic ideology he subscribes to is ('Allah killed those men', his thought-process reassures him after he's killed a number of innocents).

Watching this film I kept wondering if Gallo was the right choice. I won't say it would have been better for a Middle-Easterner to play Mohammed because that would betray the very idea of acting. But one thing's for sure: Gallo doesn't convince as an Afghan.

There are too many conveniences. Mohammed is rendered deaf by an explosion, so can't respond to people. (Would it have been that difficult to learn a few words of Pashto?). It's apocryphal that he'd be such an efficient killer in his emaciated condition. And would being attacked by feral dogs, caught in a bear trap, crushed by a tree, starved and submerged in sub-zero waters not be enough to kill you? Apparently not mighty Mohammed.

The disjointed score is a distraction. Clearly that's the point, but it would have made what little suspense there is no less palpable to have no soundtrack at all. Director Jerzy Skolimowski might have realised from the absence of dialogue that silence is often the loudest noise.

It's a demanding role physically, and Gallo gives an almost animalistic portrayal of a man whose only dilemma is kill or be killed. What's both good and bad is that Gallo doesn't appear to be acting. The film features a few harrowing scenes, including one where Gallo, desperate for nourishment, sucks the milk from a pregnant woman's breast while she's breastfeeding her child. I'm sure I've never seen anything quite as grotesque. If any actor was going to do that, it'd have to be him.

www.scottishreview.net

I really liked the film BUT: i find myself in deep disagreement with the principles it is build upon, especially the crude underestimation of it's audience. It's execution is perfect to the point it treats the viewer in a deeply unfair and intellectually restrictive manner.

To clarify, one has no choice but to assume the main character's position, which its essentially an enforced emotional investment. When the film is over, the viewer has no choice but to reach for personal closure *outside* the film.

I can respect the effectiveness, but such ability could produce less sterile results (plus: a similar negotiation of more practical matters would be of value). The film demonstrates ability but no valuable goal. This is my first review, so I hope this establishes certain qualities (in my view) and overall encouragement as my motive.

Taken to an unspecified European country for interrogation after killing three US soldiers, an unnamed terrorist tries to survive after fleeing capture in this unconventional thriller starring Vincent Gallo. It is not an easy to film to watch, and much of what Gallo gets up to (especially with a mother with a baby) may make one feel queasy, but Jerzy Skolimowski's approach in directing the material is refreshingly unique. His protagonist is thoroughly dislikeable at face value: possibly a member of the Taliban and mercilessly killing many along the way. As the title alludes to though, all of his killings are essential, at least in his eyes, and it is hard not to feel for his desperation, heinous as his actions may be. The choice to shoot with minimal dialogue (Gallo never once speaks) and no specific locations works well too as the film gets down to the essence of what it means to survive and live in the heat of the moment, politics aside. Interesting as all this might sound, 'Essential Killing' nevertheless ends on a sadly inconclusive note. The final section of the film (in which second-billed Emmanuelle Seigner finally appears) comes off as extremely implausible too. The benefit of all those flashbacks is likewise debatable since the less we know about Gallo, the more fascinating he is. If flawed, 'Essential Killing' remains daringly different though to the point that it is a hard film not to recommend. The picturesque yet hostile deserted locations, the frequently mobile cinematography and Pawel Mykietyn's eerie score all combine to make a difficult yet hard-to-forget experience.

Jerzy Skolimowski attended the showing of this film at the London Film Festival to introduce it, although he didn't take questions. He announced that at a retrospective 20 years earlier, he had introduced his film The Adventures of Gerard by telling the audience that it was the worst film he ever made, but that he was in the position today to tell us that Essential Killing was the best film he ever made.

I don't really agree with that statement being a big fan of The Shout and The Lightship, both highly artistic and quirky movies that are unique. Essential Killing certainly has qualities but also some problems.

The movie concerns a Talib fighter (played by Vincent Gallo) who is captured by the Americans in Afghanistan (Israel standing in for Afghanistan) and rendered to a Russian satellite country (probably meant to resemble Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan, but shot in Norway and Poland), where he escapes by chance and attempts to evade capture.

Vincent Gallo's performance is hugely creditable and he probably gets as close to fitting the role as any Western actor could. I was a little worried that the film was becoming a showcase for his acting skills however (or lack of acting skills as I suspect a huge number of his dyed-in-the-wool detractors will call them).

The movie juxtaposes attitudes, Gallo is a fighter, but not a fanatic, he's fighting out of religious duty, and accepts that what he is doing is hateful, but also believes it to be a manifestation of the will of Allah. When he kills someone, it is not him doing the killing, it is Allah. What is terrifying for him is that he's taken out of a milieu that is both comfortable and mystical for him and placed in a Northern winterscape that he can't begin to comprehend. The movie is respectful of Middle Eastern culture and I think often begs the question of what we are doing going there and disturbing their culture, we are as out of place as he becomes.

The attitude of the Americans is very different, coloured by juvenility, a complete lack of sentimentality, and yet a curious professionalism. I remember reading a book about Vietnam called In Pharaoh's Army, and I was thinking during this movie that the soldiers basically amounted to Pharaoh's minions, fulfilling blatant imperialist and expansionist policies, absent entirely of moral authority or purpose. That's the flavour of the film, but the reality is for you to judge.

People have said that the film has amazing cinematography. My view was of competent cinematography and nothing more. Having recently been watching Dziga Vertov movies my standards are probably higher.

My biggest problem with the movie was a scene where the Talib fighter comes across an unlikely food source. It's pure misadventure and makes me wonder just what Skolimowski was thinking when he shot it.

The film starts with an awesome aerial view of the desert n ends in the vast frozen woodland. A man (Vincent Gallo) responsible for killing three US soldiers is shifted to an unknown location somewhere in Poland. He gets a chance to escape into the frozen wilderness n from this moment on our fugitive has to resort to essential killing n various other stuff to survive, including sucking milk from a lactating female. Even Takashi Mike must hav not thot about this kinda thing. Vincent Gallo's acting is the highlight. His facial expressions speaks more than words. The director n cinematographer shud be commended for their effort.

The story is about a Muslim (?) Rambo or Superman. I put the (?) because is the only Muslim I knew that never prays. May be he's just an atheist who loves women in burka. Some little stuff that the writers of this movie need to know. If you shot a RPG in a cave, may be you kill yourself and not your enemies. I you fell in the water is very probable that you get wet. If you fight and kill a dog may be he bites you. To search people in the woods exist heat sensors, who search by visual contact nowadays. If you fell on mud, melting snow and rocks your white jacket and trousers get dirty. Falling trees use to kill people who laid where they fell, if the trunk fell on the belly probabilities are against the guy. Black ants sleep during the winter. If it snow and all is frozen, tree's cork also is frozen and you rip your nail trying to tore the cork. Gentle and gorgeous women don't live in the middle of the woods. What a stupid movie!!!!!

Essential Killing begins in a desert gorge in Afghanistan, with three off duty American soldiers on a dubious, unspecified outing, possibly in search of stashed loot. Also in the gorge is an Afghan man, listed in the credits as Mohammed (an initially unrecognisable Vincent Gallo). He spies the Americans and flees to a crevice concealing a dead Afghan holding a bazooka. Who killed this man is unclear. As the Americans approach and their suspicions are aroused, Muhammad fires the weapon and obliterates them, alerting an accompanying American chopper which swoops in and quickly apprehends him.

It's best to go into the film without knowing too many details beforehand, suffice it to say that a shell-shocked Mohammed is taken for interrogation before being transferred out of Afghanistan and managing, in a scenario that will be familiar to fans of a certain film about a fugitive, to escape and flee. While this might sound, and indeed does initially appear like standard action film fodder, what distinguishes Essential Killing is the boldness of the manner in which Mohammed's subsequent experience is conveyed. The audience is slyly forced to share in his disorientation at being jolted out of his homeland. As the film progresses, it becomes clear that an individual's perception of where they are or where the path lies can change quickly.

Questions of lazy or fanciful plot contrivances, such as why a crash scene is abandoned with a prisoner still missing, or why a domesticated Border Collie opportunely appears in the middle of nowhere, are subsumed by the increasingly evident hallucinatory nature of Mohammed's journey. These hallucinations are most effective when their verisimility is left open, occasionally though they err towards overstatement. What emerges is like a fusion of The Fugitive's pulsating action with the aesthetic sensibilities of Dog Star Man and Far North. The finished article is reminiscent of the impressionistic WW2 escape film Diamonds of the Night.

While it would be impossible to consider Mohammed an innocent victim of circumstance, his brutal actions are clearly motivated by fumbling, disoriented desperation rather than malice, his violence is that of a frightened animal lashing out and grabbing what it needs to survive. Likewise, the treatment of the interrogations is admirably matter of fact. There's no hint of the sensationalism displayed in films such as Rendition and Body of Lies. Neither Mohammed nor the soldiers are allowed to descend into caricature; instead their depiction is refreshingly economical.

Essential Killing is likely to receive criticism at several levels. It forgoes any excursions into glib didacticism while telling a story from the point of view of an Afghan prisoner of war, but it also binds this protagonist with the unfamiliar companions of chase thriller tropes and art house digressions. Similar treatment in recent films such as Vinyan and Antichrist has tended to divide viewers quite sharply. Essential Killing is arguably a more measured work, although still a bold and original one. Anyone willing to take it on its own terms may find an extremely absorbing film.

This movie is a waste of time.

The story is too simple. The acting is mediocre and is bathed in the incredible. It leads, painfully, to a shameful end with no real meaning. To list the goofs would take some paragraphs. But consider the relaxed appearance of Mohommad soon after being blasted by an American rocket, the fisherman who shows little interest in him when he steals a fish despite a ragged appearance, in a land where he must only be a few kilometers from his escape point, to surviving 4 days without appreciable sustenance and over all his unexplained variances in energy - from near collapse to hurrying along without apparent serious harm or privation...

The Border Collies take the best acting award.

I suggest that you spend your precious viewing time elsewhere.

A certain old & truly cult Polish movie features a short conversation between two guys about the shortcomings of Polish movies. Those guys take an exceptionally long time to exchange really short remarks about how nothing ever happens in Polish movies - the actors just sit there and do almost nothing for a long time.

While there is always something moving on the screen of the "Essential killing", I am still under the impression that the whole movie has enough story for ca. 10 minutes. With 83 minutes of actual length, it feels more like 8 hours. It took me two tries to actually finish watching it.

It does feature some good actors' play. It does have a message. It's the 73 extra minutes that made me rate it 4 instead of, say, 8 stars.

Refreshingly unlike a lot of Hollywood's products where one is fed the director's opinion and invited to swallow it whole. Here a simple story is told without the usual, clearly identified good and bad characters. We watch a story thread its course and are invited to decide for ourselves who, if anyone, is guilty or innocent. Mahommed, the main character, could easily have been portrayed as the stereotypical Jihadist instead he is depicted as frightened and confused which one would suppose are the normal reactions to the situation he finds himself in. It is set in stark but beautiful environments and one can vividly feel the pain and deprivation which is depicted in a most understated manner. This film is different, it is in a league of its own and will be appreciated by anyone with a mind of their own - essential viewing for those who don't.

From beginning to end this movie did not only disappoint, but it tested the boundaries of credulity, as well. From the escape to the submersion in freezing water to the encounter with a mother nursing her child at the side of a winter road, this movie offered nothing in the way of an identifiable narrative worthy of viewing. The music was cacophonous and distracted from the impossible peregrination of this poor lost soul. The scenery was beautiful. The theme of escape proved to be what drew me into this movie but in the end proved so incredulous as to warrant only my disgust. It is hard for me to see how this movie, with its sparse narrative of escape, could have and did make it off the cutting room floor. I personally found this movie worthy of nothing more than a two rating.

This film defies almost every cinematic convention in the book. In many ways it reminds me of the style of Tarkovsky. Of course, as with Tarkovsky, this will likely leave those with conventional expectations confused, bored and thinking it makes no sense. It uses a lot of metaphorical and allegorical imagery and if people a. expect things to be literal and clearly spelled out with an obvious narrative or b. don't have the background or context to understand these metaphors they are probably going to find the film awful. It also lacks a clear moral position or message as we normally expect from movies. The atmosphere of the movie evokes the tone of Kosinski's book "The Painted Bird" to me in an odd way; another stranger in - the same - strange land.

The movie is surprisingly non-political and doesn't seem to ask the viewer to agree with or condemn the character (though sympathies are challenged). It reminds me very much of the old ink-blot tests and leaves A LOT for the viewer to fill in. The resulting interpretation *may* even be correct BUT not the only way it can be interpreted and I think people's predispositions very much effect how they see the movie and, like the ink-blot tests, the assumptions one makes can be revealing. If one is inclined to see the west's incursions into the mid-east as imperialistic or otherwise wrong-headed, they are likely to see the lead actor as a victim or as an any-man trying to escape the inescapable. If a viewer is biased to assume anyone that looks middle-eastern is likely guilty of being a terrorist, they will probably view him as a Taliban or Al Qaeda member and have little or no sympathy for him or his plight. (i.e. note the extremes in the reviews on this board.) And it is open for interpretations beyond these. Despite advertising, when we first see him he is unarmed it is not clearly indicated that he is a Taliban, a terrorist, or even a militant at all. Though he might be...

Excellent camera work. The music is jarring and angular but fits. Huge kudos to Gallo. Unlike anything else he's done and he seems incredibly right for the role.

A great movie but more for the cinephile and not for the mainstream. Definitely not a Hollywood movie.

Boredom personified. As an Afghan prisoner who escapes when the vehicle in which he is traveling crashes, Vincent Gallo, in a totally wordless performance, is excellent, (Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival), but Jerzy Skolimowski's picture "Essential Killing" goes nowhere very, very slowly. Skolimowski brings a documentary-like fidelity to the material that might be admirable in another context as Gallo is pursued through the inhospitable terrain by his mostly faceless and nameless enemies. It's fairly grim stuff; the 'essential killing' of the title is what Gallo is forced to do in order to survive but this isn't "The Revenant" and as man-in-the-wilderness movies go it has little to recommend it.

I was not sure where this film was going to go with the story line at hand, was it to be another horror story about the violence of war? It was just a bit hard to work out after watching the trailer on YouTube, as things can look misleading.

But I was glad to see it was not all about blood and gut's, no Rambo style shoot me up type of film, sure there are parts with violence, but it is not the main focus of the storyline, and it put another spin on the way I looked at the war's that are being fought in the Middle East.

And by not giving to much away from this solid film, it is about a fish out of water, but seen from the other side of the fence. It made me think about the conflict of war in a different way. Apparently Jack Nicholson stated, so far it was the best film of year, I am not sure about that, but the film made me think about the madness of the world we live in.

Rock solid 8 out of 10, and could some one tell me the name of the music at the end of the film.

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.

Vincent Gallo stars as a confused, lonesome Taliban fighter in this survival film, perhaps a spiritual successor to the old Nils Gaup film 'The Pathfinder' (not the remake). An unnamed fighter is captured by Americans, extradited to a base inn a Russian-speaking country, then escapes, and spends the most part of the film chased by Americans in helicopters or patrols of dogs. It's refreshing to see Americans portrayed through the eyes of a Taliban fighter; with their superior technology and almost infantile attitudes they seem quite like aliens. The fighter is ever troubled by the killing he has to do in order to survive, as he struggles through a bleak wintery landscape (shot in Norway and Poland), searching for food, clothes and shelter. This is a film about the human condition rather than a political one, in some respects it has a classic chase plot but with minimal dialogue a dream-like feel. The strangeness of it all made me intrigued; here is a Taliban fighter chased by rather alien Americans surrounded by hapless Russian-speaking farmers or foresters. This slightly unreal quality is the film's strength, also parallel to the man's sand-coloured 'dream-visions' of his homeland and imagery of a woman (whose face we never see) and images of his family.

The cinematography and use of colour contrasted against the pale winter landscape is stunning. The plot isn't entirely believable, and takes you through some pretty unlikely twists and turns, but nevertheless this is more existentialist than realist, and Vincent Gallo pulls off the non-speaking part with a humbling and convincing performance.

Really bad movie with no narrative. No ending. It's a run away movie and it's just goes on and on with the same idea and it gets obnoxious and boring! Furthermore, The text writing has no sophistication at all.

Don't waste your time and your money. I really don't understand how come the movie won 5 prizes in movie festival. The only thing I was satisfied with in the movie was the nature surrounding camera shooting which was magnificent. But still, the hero just wanders around in nature all along with no words coming from his mouth and the story just goes no where.

In conclusion, the film was a waste of time and money and I believe you all will find a better violent and sophisticated movie to go to.

I saw this film today. While not perfect, it is a very good film. This is about a character that does not want to kill at all, feels horrible about it, but has no other choice. Gallo's performance is his best yet, very convincing and telling. The cinematography is stunning. The music is also quite good, adding more to the tension. (I didn't like the end credits song very much though). It's a very simple story, but it is told well. I appreciate this kind of film, where there is not a great deal of dialogue, just a simple story, good acting, and great photography. I don't need a ton of action, plot twists, subplots, or overindulgent dialogue. So something like Essential Killing is a film I can enjoy. Of course that doesn't mean it's for everyone.

There are a few small weaknesses (I found the ending felt very abrupt - maybe there could have been a way to make it feel less so), but overall I would rate the film an 8.5. It is a compelling, revealing and rewarding experience.