Review of Gorky Park

Introduction

When three mutilated and faceless bodies are found buried in the snow in Gorky Park, the case falls on the desk of Arkady Renko of the Moscow militia. Renko is initially reluctant to handle the case, especially when the KGB are on the scene not long after his own people, and he looks for any excuse to pass the case on to a higher authority. When a post-mortem discovers that at least on of the victims was foreign and the murder weapon was of KGB issue, he believes that he has found that excuse. But Moscow`s chief prosecutor and old friend Iamskoy persuades him to stay on the case. A convoluted tangle of leads reveals a conspiracy at the highest levels between Soviet and Americans, and the only witness is Irina, a frightened young Siberian girl guilty of dreaming of a better life.

Video

Gorky Park comes with a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer. The picture itself is a little grainy and a little dirty, but by and large clear and sharp. The faded and rather dull palette reflects the Russian setting. I did notice a couple of artefacts, most notably a big blue pixel in the middle of one frame halfway through the movie. Other than that it is a standard MGM back catalogue transfer.

Audio

As with nearly all MGM back catalogue titles, the standard five languages are catered for, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. This time however, all five soundtracks are presented in glorious DD 1.0 mono sound. I think this is the first time that I have come across this sound format and I am a little lost when it comes to commenting, beyond the dialogue being clear at all times. James Horner provides the music and for those of you familiar with his early work will note a remarkable similarity to the score of Commando.

Features

A trailer of all things joins a surfeit of subtitles.

Conclusion

Gorky Park is ultimately a disappointment. I say ultimately as for much of the 2 hours this film is an engrossing and engaging thriller, intelligently written and smartly directed by Michael Apted. With a screenplay from Dennis Potter and a cast including Lee Marvin, William Hurt, Brian Dennehy and Ian Bannen, this film certainly demands your attention. A particular inducement has to be the Russian setting, with Finland filling in nicely for Cold War Moscow. The idea of a murder investigation in a different culture makes for a change from all the usual thrillers, and there is some value in seeing the repressive environment in which Renko must conduct his investigation. The decision was made to dispense with the Russian accents and focus more on showing the difference in culture, which to a large extent succeeds. The cast boasted a large British contingent and that added just a hint of exotic to differentiate the characters. Although I must admit the sight of Michael Elphick as a Moscow Militia man was initially jarring, a Cockney Communist, as it were.

The cast is excellent. William Hurt seems to have made a career of playing individuals who are just a little left of mainstream, and he repeats that here with his portrayal of Arkady Renko. Lee Marvin is dependable as the American furrier Jack Osborne, and Brian Dennehy does his angry middle-aged cop thing as William Kirwell. Joanna Pacula is good value as Irina, but I really enjoyed Ian McDiarmid`s macabre performance as Professor Andreev, the scientist who meticulously provides faces to the dismembered bodies. However Alexei Sayle is terribly out of place as a dodgy used car salesman. "Hello John, Got a new motor?"

Gorky Park is an entertaining film, but perhaps a little too long and tends to meander somewhat. Renko`s investigation is interesting and the twists and turns of the conspiracy are initially intriguing, especially when suspicion falls on the KGB. But as the story gets deeper, then elements are thrown in almost at random. Brian Dennehy`s character is a New York cop who is investigating his brother`s murder and initially suspects Renko, what follows is a half hour diversion into Red Heat reversed, and I was worried that this would turn into that kind of humorous cop duo. Then there is the Irina storyline, which in itself is entertaining enough, but tended to distract from the main thrust of the investigation. Renko quite quickly determined who the prime suspect was, but the tension and suspense wasn`t maintained as the story tended to wander. The biggest problem though, is that the film changes halfway through. It starts off as an intelligent thriller set in Soviet Russia, the characters are involving and the interactions and politicking is quite intelligently done, but by the end of the film we revert to a traditional Hollywood that claims that a thriller isn`t a thriller without serious gunplay, and the showdown is terribly clichéd.

A fair movie isn`t at all done justice by a lacklustre disc. I mean, Dolby 1.0 mono, what is this, the 1990`s? It`s definitely worth a rent.