Customer Reviews

Gorky Park

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A murder mistery . In the middle of Moscow . 3 people are killed . One of them is American . Life smart Russian detective trying to figure it out ... and catch another American ( in Moscow ). But later he found out , that this one - is a COP from New York , looking for killers of his brother . You get everything in here : exellent actors , a plot , a culmination , love story , KGB , Russian militsia , Moscow views , a good guys and the bad ones too . What else do you need ? A good director ? They got that !
Highly recomended .

"Gorky Park" is based on the novel of the same name by Martin Cruz Smith. It's a flawed attempt, but otherwise excellent film. William Hurt plays the hero, Arkady "Arkasha" Renko, a righteous detective with the Moscow Militia, the Soviet capitol's local police force. His latest case involves three mutilated corpses discovered under a blanket of fresh snow in the woods of Gorky Park. Renko is barely on the scene when he's joined by KGB Col. Pribluda. "That could be you one day", the smiling killer tells Renko. With little doubt that the case "reeks of KGB" involvement, Renko at first seeks a way to dump the case, thinking it a trap laid against him by the KGB as revenge for Renko's earlier attempts to implicate the grinning KGB colonel in a multiple homicide. A dogged persistance won't let him drop the case, and he pursues leads that have nothing to do with the KGB - including a one-time student dissident (Joanna Pacula) whose name is scratched into the skates worn by one of the corpses, and Jack Osborne (Lee Marvin), a wealthy American tycoon with an interest in genuine Russian Sables. Soon, however, Renko finds himself the prey, when a mysterious American, who turns out to be a NYPD Detective (Brian Dennehy), arrives on the scene, convinced that his younger brother may be one of the victims and Renko one of his executioners. Unclear who he has to fear, especially when his men and his witnesses begin dying, and unsure who to trust, Renko goes practically underground, the American Detective his only real ally.

Flawed by a script that ambitiously tries to comprise all of Smith's multi-layered plot, "Park" makes a great go of it. With the help of the late and great Dennis Potter ("the Singing Detective", "Pennies from Heaven"), Michael Apted's superb cast goes a long way to realizing author Smith's vision. There is the amiably amoral Pribluda and Dennehy as the brutish Detective Kerwill. Joanna Paculla will break your heart while Lee Marvin is cheery as the rich American who smoothly reaffirms the Soviets' faith in the evil that is the United States. Hurt's duel of wits with Marvin (Renko wastes little time making the rich American a prime suspect) provides the most tension of the film. Renko tries to elicit Osbourne's response by comparing the murder of the faceless trio with the American's favorite hobby - a hunt for Sable. Their exchanges are key because they highlight Osbourne's amorality and his mastery over Renko and the systemic rot of the Soviet hierarchy. Even minor charachters like Alexi Sayle as Fedor Golodkin and Ian Mcdiarmid as Prof. Andreev are hard to forget. Golodkin is the cheerily slimy smuggler who informs on Pacula's charachter for the KGB while Andreev, a dry academician with no time for police forensics, reluctantly agrees to reconstruct identities of mutilitated corpses. Mcdarmid, for his screen time is also fun, especially when meeting Renko and the detective's high-mindedness for the first time. "I fear that you are not long for this world, my friend", the dry academician tells Renko, evoking the same foreboding Macdarmid displayed as Darth Vader's boss in "Return of the Jedi". I caught a TV cut of the film and the editing was horrible. Don't settle for the Bravo version - get this tape today.

It's winter and three corpses are found in Moscow's Gorky Park. They've had their faces and finger tips carved off. Arkady Renko, an honest, slightly obsessive Russian cop, is assigned to the case. He sets out to identify the bodies by reconstructing their faces, and as he gets closer he finds obstructions in his path. He finds a girl (Joanna Pacula) who was friends of the trio, a wealthy and ruthless American (Lee Marvin), an American cop (Brian Dennehy) out for blood, and more than he probably wants to know about sable coats and the animals they're made from. It becomes clear that corrupt higher-ups are involved in something with greater stakes than solving a triple murder. Hurt and Marvin do great jobs and are well matched.

This is a tight, very well constructed police procedural that is a little exotic, with the cops and functionaries being Russians. It's also a bit gloomy with a bittersweet ending, but it still works as a very watchable film. A lot of the outdoor shots were filmed in Helsinki, and the movie takes place in the winter. The atmosphere looks cold and oppressive. The contrast is striking with the scenes set in a pre-revolutionary bath and an expensive restaurant, both reserved for the use of privileged Soviet officials.

The book, by Martin Cruz Smith, is even better. Apted also directed Enigma, and I like both movies a lot.

I've read the book and although it, of course, was much better, I enjoyed the movie. I regret that the movie leaves out a large section at the end of the book that I particularly liked. Additionally, the movie misrepresents my favorite character, namely KGB Major Pribluda. On the flip side, William Hurt is very good as Arkady. Lee Marvin well portrays the slimy sable-selling American Jack Osbourne, and Brian Dennerhy does well as a rogue New York City cop who doesn't give a damn about getting killed or killing people, as long as he can avenge his brother. I really enjoyed this film. Oh- the DVD especially is good, because in the movie it is difficult to make out what is happening in some of the darker scenes.

Forget the Amazon review, this is one of those rare cases in which the movie is actually better than book (it eschews the books unbelievable ending, replacing it with one that is far more plausible). A stellar cast and the great Lee Marvin's last movie, terrific acting and fine direction, what more do you need.

Being a fan of Arkady Renko, and particularly of Gorky Park (the novel), I was very disappointed at the way the entire book was encapsulated into the video. Hunt did not make a very good Arkady.

I read the book Gorky Park last year and was blown away. Definitely one of the best novels I've ever read. I remembered from when I was a kid there being a movie version of the book that was pretty popular so I checked it out. If you read the book first don't expect the movie to be perfectly in-line with the book. For the sake of making the story more digestible to a movie audience a lot is streamlined, but the integral parts are left pretty well intact. The cast is PERFECT in this movie! William Hurt as Arkady Renko is excellent. Brian Dennehy as tough-as-nails NYPD Detective Kirwill and Lee Marvin as the evil, cunning American Mr. Osborne both fit the book descriptions of the characters. British comedian/actor Alexei Sayle as the sleezy black-marketeer/KGB informant Golodkin was awesome! Fast-pasted action and chilling suspense set in the stunning snow-covered Moscow cityscape(actually Sweden...) in the midst of the Cold War. An excellent movie overall. Check out the book too.

The movie "Gorky Park," released in 1983, was based on Martin Cruz Smith's phenomenally successful novel of the same name. It was made well before "glasnost," the Russian willingness to open up; therefore, although set in Russia, it was actually filmed in Finland. Never mind: Finland looks every bit as cold and snowy to most of us. "Gorky Park" was written by the highly-acclaimed British screenwriter Dennis Potter("Singing Detective," "Pennies from Heaven"), and its director, well-thought-of Briton Michael Apted (the "Seven-Up" series). The film stars the Americans William Hurt, Brian Dennehy, and Lee Marvin; the usual suspects among able British supporting players (including Richard Griffiths, who just recently, suddenly, achieved stardom in late middle age with "The History Boys," play and movie). It introduces the former model Joanne Pacula.

Cruz Smith's novel, a police procedural, was quite an achievement: in those days before glasnost, and before the Internet, he had to research it in various hard-copy libraries without ever going to the U.S.S.R.; yet it read as if he knew the country, its police procedures, and its internal politics well. (Nor has he ever written anything else, before or since, that sold as strongly.)

The plot concerns three bodies found in the snow, in central Moscow's Gorky Park, near the skating rink. The faces and fingertips of the bodies have been skinned, making them difficult to identify. The case falls to Moscow police detective Arkady Renko, who'd rather not have it: its got fingerprints of the KGB, reputedly brutal Russian secret service, all over it. And though he is lauded as the most successful of Moscow detectives, his independent ways, particularly in regard to the skirt-the-law murderous KGB, have gotten him into trouble before. It's likely that, if he weren't the son of a celebrated general, his troubles might have been deeper: they might yet, still, be.

Hurt plays Renko with a noticeable degree of formality; he's not the all-American boy next door here. The case brings him into contact with the lucrative trade in sable furs, a profitable Russian monopoly. He also meets Brian Dennehy, playing an American policeman with a much harder edge than we're accustomed to seeing on him. And Lee Marvin, handsomely tanned and grey-haired, looking every inch the successful American businessman, giving one of his typical highly-mannered performances; that actor never walked when he could strut. Hurt/Renko also finds Pacula, playing a beautiful young script girl willing to die to get out of Russia. She looks Slavic. Also sexier, all bundled up for the cold, than she has any right to, and is adequate to the demands of her part. (Still, her acting career never went much further.) The Brits, Griffiths, Ian Bannen, Rikki Fulton, Alexander Knox, Michael Elphick, play all the Russian parts without a hint of a Russian accent. Go figure.

The movie is strong on the ambiance of life in a cold climate. Also life as it had to be lived for the masses in Russia then, and perhaps now. Plenty of vodka. A scene of an open-air do-it-yourself used auto mart. Scenes of people standing on long lines for whatever meat or fresh produce was available, then sitting down to eat, inside a restaurant, in hat and coat. "Gorky Park" also gives us a look at the life of the privileged, then and now. The greatly desired dachas, weekend country houses. An elegant imperial era mens' bathhouse. A grand hotel. It moves fast, and maintains suspense to the end. Its underlying theme, the desire for freedom inborn in every living creature, has emotional resonance. In these post glasnost days, anyone who can raise the fare is welcome to Russia, but a lot of Russia is still to be found in this picture, no matter where it was filmed.

This is a really terrific movie. Suspense, plot, action; all there, all well done. There are a couple of other things that make this movie stand out. First, the acting. I think this has got to be one of Lee Marvin's best performances. He absolutley commands the screen. William Hurt plays the part of a Soviet cop. When in scenes with Marvin, Hurt's character is shown to be provincial and unsophisticated. Part of the way this is shown is in Hurt's display of envy at Marvin's character's ability to say the right thing, dress the right way, and so on. Hurt is playing a part (and doing it very well), but I wonder if there wasn't some back handed paying of tribute to Marvin.

The second thing that sets this movie apart is the fact that Dennis Potter has the writing credit. I've only seen a couple of his plays but I really liked his stuff and his writing really adds to the movie.

This is a movie worth seeing every couple of years, or so.

A mezmorizing murder mystery set in Moscow during the mid-eighties based upon the popular best-selling book " Gorky Park" by Martin-Cruz Smith. Arkady Renko, Moscow police's most succesful homicide investigator, stumbles upon three horribly mutilated bodies in the Moscow amusement center known as Gorky Park. As he becomes more deeply invloved with the case, he discovers that the KGB ( Russian secret Police ) have a secret interest in it, and may have betried Arkady just to get even. Meanwhile, a suspicious American visitor may hold the clues that Arkady is looking for.