Essential Killing
Director: Jerzy Skolimowski
Stars: Vincent Gallo, Emmanuelle Seigner
Country of Origin: Poland
Why I Chose this Film: Vincent Gallo as a member of the Taliban and directed by Polish auteur Skolimowski? I was intrigued.
The Rundown: Skolimowski's film follows Gallo as he is taken prisoner after killing several US soldiers and his subsequent escape and survival in the snow mountainsides of an unnamed European countryside. Gallo doesn't have any dialogue and neither does a mute Ms. Seigner (wife of Roman Polanski) who helps him out towards the end of his journey. A beautiful, entrancing film with little to no dialogue, Essential Killing includes several scenes of violence and desperation. The best way to describe his performance is primal. As I write this I learn that he won Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival for performance---and I can see why. Gallo isn't my favorite film presence, but he picks compelling material to be involved in and this virtually silent film is poetry in motion----poetry of survival. 10/10
Thanks for this. Can't wait to see it.
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