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Product Description
Captured by the US military in Afghanistan, Mohammed (Vincent Gallo) is transported to a secret detention centre in Europe. When the vehicle he is riding in crashes, he finds himself suddenly free and on the run in a snow-blanketed forest, a world away from the desert home he knew. Relentlessly pursued by an army that does not officially exist, Mohammed must confront the necessity to kill in order to survive.
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: Arabic ( Dolby Digital Stereo ), English ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), Polish ( Dolby Digital Stereo ), English ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (1.78:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Cast/Crew Interview(s), Interactive Menu, Scene Access, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: A pair of American security operatives (Zach Cohen and Iftach Ofir) are on patrol in Afghanistan when they stumble upon a Taliban fighter (Vincent Gallo), who kills them despite his terror and nervousness. While trying to escape, the Afghan is captured by American forces; he's tortured during interrogation, but doesn't tell the Americans anything, in part because an explosion has made it difficult for him to hear what they're saying. The Americans ship the Afghan off to a detention facility with a number of other Taliban soldiers, but upon arrival he's able to escape. However, the Afghan finds himself in a forbidding snowbound climate, and with no provisions or warm clothing he struggles to simply survive as he avoids his pursuers and struggles to find some way to get home. Shot with very little dialogue (and almost none delivered by leading man Gallo), Essential Killing received its North American premiere at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: Venice Film Festival, ...Essential Killing (2010) ( Essence ) ( Essence of Killing )
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is not an action film by any stretch of the imagination. It's a grim and wintry look at the progress of a Taliban soldier on the run, starting with him being shot at by a helicopter and then killing 3 US soldiers with an RPG. It's a tale of survival, with the least dialogue of any film I've seen in a long time.
Vincent Gallo is convincing in a very difficult role. There are some scenes of survival which seem to be pushing the envelope for the sake of it, and my 4 star rating is based on the unusual but successful style of storytelling here. I'd reiterate, this is not an action film but a dark look at a Taliban soldier on the run. Far from pleasant, but very interesting.
Vincent Gallo is convincing in a very difficult role. There are some scenes of survival which seem to be pushing the envelope for the sake of it, and my 4 star rating is based on the unusual but successful style of storytelling here. I'd reiterate, this is not an action film but a dark look at a Taliban soldier on the run. Far from pleasant, but very interesting.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is a grim escape tale of a Taliban fighter transported to a wintry (and unnamed, but it's Norway) Western country where circumstances free him to try to survive in an alien land. Although he shows a good deal of skill and is an efficient killer our "hero" is never going to be Jason Bourne. This is arthouse rather than action film, and is both slow and moody; if you enjoy some good Ramboesque action you should not watch this one. Although low budget (wrong weapons, dude) it is very effective at transmitting the cold and the lonlieness of the escapee.
This is a film for a particular audience who will enjoy it, not for the casual viewer.
This is a film for a particular audience who will enjoy it, not for the casual viewer.
18 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
An unnamed taliban soldier is apprehended after killing three us soldiers, detained, tortured and then transported to an unnamed wintery location somewhere in eastern Europe (hearing the accents most likely somewhere in poland). After a crash the insurgent escapes and must attempt to cross the harsh winter terrain to freedom.
Anyone looking for somthing a little different is well advised to check out this film. Essentialy its a chase film, where the 'hero' must use every tool at his disposal to stay alive and free against insurmountable odds. In essential killing the chase gives way to a much stranger and surreal journey for the central character that is often strange and disturbing. The film bravely makes the character an afghani insurgent and the enemy the americans subverting the normal roles found in most western variations on this kind of movie.
Director Jerzy Skolimowski has made a film that is virtually dialouge free relying on the supurb locations and vincent gallos excellent central performance to convey the story. Hats off to Gallo, who makes his unnamed character sympathetic, while at the same time clearly very dangerous and morrally ambiguous. The film runs at around 80 minutes and never outstays its welcome and looks genuineley breathtaking.As the film progresses and the characters state of mind begins to unravel the film sticks with our characters point of view and has some genuinelly strange and intreaguing sequences.On the downside there are some plot points that feel a little contrived but honestly it didn't effect my enjoyment of the film one bit. I came to this film expecting just another chase movie and got a lot more and for that essential killing is a film i'm happy to reccomend. The film comes with a special effects featturette, an interview with the director and a trailer.
Anyone looking for somthing a little different is well advised to check out this film. Essentialy its a chase film, where the 'hero' must use every tool at his disposal to stay alive and free against insurmountable odds. In essential killing the chase gives way to a much stranger and surreal journey for the central character that is often strange and disturbing. The film bravely makes the character an afghani insurgent and the enemy the americans subverting the normal roles found in most western variations on this kind of movie.
Director Jerzy Skolimowski has made a film that is virtually dialouge free relying on the supurb locations and vincent gallos excellent central performance to convey the story. Hats off to Gallo, who makes his unnamed character sympathetic, while at the same time clearly very dangerous and morrally ambiguous. The film runs at around 80 minutes and never outstays its welcome and looks genuineley breathtaking.As the film progresses and the characters state of mind begins to unravel the film sticks with our characters point of view and has some genuinelly strange and intreaguing sequences.On the downside there are some plot points that feel a little contrived but honestly it didn't effect my enjoyment of the film one bit. I came to this film expecting just another chase movie and got a lot more and for that essential killing is a film i'm happy to reccomend. The film comes with a special effects featturette, an interview with the director and a trailer.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Blue-Ray disc which I will never play again.
The title of this review says it all! The only good thing about this disc is the title.
A good beginning eventually morphs into endless shots of our hero struggling in a... Read more
A good beginning eventually morphs into endless shots of our hero struggling in a... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Christopher Robin
Definitely far from essential, another pointless chase film
This war based film is low budget in feel but looks convincing, coming across quite dark and subdued. Read more
Published 10 months ago by T. BROOKES
Looks nice but totally pointless bore
Its not often that I would say a film was rubbish but this is. Very sad as it has one of my favourite actors in it but theres not much more I hate that sitting down to watch a film... Read more
Published 10 months ago by X. J. Keane
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