''Essential Killing'' is a 2010

survival Survival or survivorship, the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things ...

political thriller film Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of status or resources. The branch of social science that studies poli ...

co-written and directed by

Jerzy Skolimowski Jerzy Skolimowski (; born 5 May 1938) is a Polish film director, screenwriter, dramatist, actor and painter. Beginning as a screenwriter for Andrzej Wajda's ''Innocent Sorcerers'' (1960), Skolimowski has made more than twenty films since his dire ...

and starring

Vincent Gallo Vincent Gallo (born April 11, 1961) is an American actor, filmmaker, and musician. He has won several accolades, including a Volpi Cup for Best Actor, and has been nominated for the Palme d'Or, the Golden Lion, and the Bronze Horse. Gallo was ...

and

Emmanuelle Seigner Emmanuelle Seigner (; born 22 June 1966) is a French actress and singer. She is known for her roles in '' The Diving Bell and the Butterfly'' (2007), '' The Ninth Gate'' (1999) and '' Frantic'' (1988). She has been nominated for a César Award ...

. Gallo stars as an

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

insurgent who finds himself fighting for survival in a frozen woodland, pursued by soldiers. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with many praising Gallo's performance. The film won several accolades, including the Special Jury Prize at the

67th Venice International Film Festival The 67th annual Venice International Film Festival, was held from 1 to 11 September 2010, at Venice Lido in Italy. American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino was the jury president for the main competition. The Golden Lion was awarded to ''Somewhere ...

, while Gallo also won the

Volpi Cup for Best Actor The Volpi Cup for Best Actor () is the principal award given to actors at the Venice Film Festival and is named in honor of Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, the founder of the Venice Film Festival. The name and number of prizes have been changed ...

Plot

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

is captured in the desert after attacking U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, and then tortured and brutalized in a secret detention center. He finds himself transported to Poland, along with other prisoners. He manages to escape into the vast frozen woodland, a world away from the home he knew. In order to survive, he kills some of those who stray into his path and forages for food both from nature and from those he encounters. A woman gives him shelter, treats his wounds and feeds him before sending him back out into the wilderness. He departs on a white horse and, as the first shoots of spring are seen through the snow, appears to die.

Cast

as Mohammed *

as Margaret * Zach Cohen as American Contractor 1 * Iftach Ophir as American Contractor 2 *

Nicolai Cleve Broch Nicolai Cleve Broch (born 14 November 1975) is a Norwegian theatre and film actor. He rose to national fame playing one of the leading roles in the 2002 drama series ''Lekestue'', which aired on NRK in 2002. He is also known for playing the prot ...

as Helicopter Pilot 1 *

Stig Frode Henriksen Stig Frode Henriksen (born 1975) is a Norwegian actor, producer, and screenwriter. Biography Stig Frode Henriksen was born in 1975 in Alta, Norway. His acting career began in 2007, with his first role in the film '' Kill Buljo''. Selected fi ...

as Helicopter Pilot 2 * David Price as Interrogating Officer * Tracy Spencer Shipp as Young Soldier in

SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definition ...

* Mark Gaspersich as Head of Pursuit Team *

Phil Goss Philip Alexander Goss (born April 7, 1983) is an American former basketball player. At a height of 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) tall, he was able to play at both the point guard and shooting guard positions. High school career Goss played for his local Ox ...

as Military Doctor

Production

''Essential Killing'' was shot in Israel, Poland, and Norway from December 2009 through to February 2010. The film saw Jerzy Skolimowski reunite with

Jeremy Thomas Jeremy Jack Thomas (born 26 July 1949) is a British film producer. He is the founder and chairman of Recorded Picture Company. He produced Bernardo Bertolucci's '' The Last Emperor'', which won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Picture. In 20 ...

, who produced his feature ''

The Shout ''The Shout'' is a 1978 British horror film directed by Jerzy Skolimowski. It was based on a short story by Robert Graves and adapted for the screen by Skolimowski and Michael Austin. The film was the first to be produced by Jeremy Thomas unde ...

'' in 1978, which went on to win the Grand Prix du Jury at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

. Skolimowski had been searching to replicate the conditions of his previous film, ''

Four Nights with Anna ''Four Nights with Anna'' () is a 2008 drama film directed by Jerzy Skolimowski. It stars Artur Steranko and Kinga Preis. It tells the story of a man who visits a woman in her sleep. The film had its world premiere as the opening film of the Dire ...

'', most of which was filmed near his home in the Polish Masurian forests. He had heard of rumored (and later revealed)

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

use of the nearby Szymany Airfield for flights carrying prisoners from the Middle East. Subsequently, Skolimowski skidded off the road during winter while driving a four-wheel drive vehicle. Noticing he was two kilometers from Szymany, it occurred to him that the same could easily happen to a prisoner transport and, from this, he found the initial inspiration for the ''Essential Killing'' scenario. He shared a draft script with

who encouraged him to think beyond the modest local production Skolimowski had initially envisioned and the project grew, with Thomas as an executive producer, into a multi-national coproduction made under challenging circumstances: "In general, the working conditions were very difficult. Most of the movie was filmed at −35° in the high mountains, where you can not get even with a Snowcat. We had to practically climb to the set: the entire crew has suffered much about the situation, it was certainly the most difficult film I ever did. Vincent Gallo has had the most thankless task of all, having to run barefoot in the snow at those temperatures." Aware of the potential political overtones of the film, Skolimowski initially nearly dismissed the project as being "too political", he strove to make it non-political: "The political aspects of the situation didn't interest me: to me politics is a dirty game and I don't want to voice my opinions. What is important is that the man who runs away is returning to the state of a wild animal, who has to kill in order to survive." The film is deliberately non-specific as to locations: "I don't even say whether the film starts in Afghanistan, Iraq or maybe some other place, whether it's an American military base, where the prisoners are kept, whether it's situated in any of those countries. I don't say whether the plane which is landing somewhere in Europe is really landing in Szymany, in Poland." As was also true with his protagonist's identity: "There is something in the facial features of Vincent Gallo that is difficult to identify. Nobody knows where he is from. I was hoping that even if Vincent would not be perceived as a native Arab or a Muslim, he would still be the 'different' one, not someone from here, not someone from there. Besides, it could be someone like John Walker Lindh, the famous Californian who became a Taliban member and joined Osama bin Laden's forces." This enigmatic quality is furthered by the fact that the protagonist does not utter a single word during the course of the movie. Moreover, while some characters are named in the credits, no names are used in the film itself.

Reception

The film received generally positive reviews from critics. On review aggregator ''

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

'', the film holds a 77% from 52 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2 out of 10. The site's critic consensus reads, "Driven by a uniquely stark mood and propulsive direction, ''Essential Killing'' excels due to an unrelentingly visceral performance from Vincent Gallo." Film critic

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

gave the film 3/4 stars, praising Skolimowski's storytelling, as well as Gallo's lead performance.

Festivals and awards

''Essential Killing'' received its world premiere In Competition on September 6, 2010 at the

. At the closing ceremony on 11 September 2010, the film won the Special Jury Prize, and Best Actor (the

Volpi Cup The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

), for

's wordless performance as a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

insurgent, in addition to the CinemAvvenire Award for Best Film In Competition (voted by a non-statutory youth jury). Gallo was not present to receive his award, which was accepted on his behalf by Skolimowski, who urged the actor to come out of hiding in the audience and take the stage. It was the first time in the Festival's history that two major awards had been bestowed on a single film. At a press conference, Jury President

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...

revealed that he had asked Festival head Marco Mueller to break the rules in order to honor the film, a change that will carry on into future editions of the Festival. The film went on to win the Golden Astor for Best Film and Best Actor, and the

Argentine Film Critics Association The Argentine Film Critics Association () is an organization of Argentine-based journalism, journalists and correspondents. The association presents the ''Silver Condor Awards'' (''Premios Cóndor de Plata'') honoring achievements in Argentina, Ar ...

Critic's Prize at the

Mar del Plata International Film Festival The Mar del Plata International Film Festival () is an List of film festivals, international film festival that takes place every November in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. It is the only competitive feature festival recognized by the FIAPF ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

(

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

's most relevant competitive festival) and to screen in Official Selection at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

Festival do Rio The Festival do Rio is an international film festival in Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populou ...

Tokyo International Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. According to the FIAPF, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals and the second largest film festival in Asia behind the ...

London International Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the BFI estimated that around 240 fe ...

and was selected as the closing film of both the

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

Festival of European Cinema and the 22nd edition of the Polish Film Festival in America in 2010. The film took the top prizes at the 2010

Polish Film Awards The Eagles Polish Film Awards, or The Eagles () is the national film award of Poland. It has been delivered annually since 1999, with the first event held on 21 June, by the National Chamber of Audiovisual Producers (KIPA). Since 2003 they have b ...

in Warsaw and swept the top awards at the 2011

Polish Film Festival The Gdynia Film Festival aka FPFF (until 2011: Polish Film Festival, Polish: ''Festiwal Polskich Filmów Fabularnych w Gdyni'') is an annual film festival first held in Gdańsk (1974–1986), now held in Gdynia, Poland. It has taken place every ...

Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...

. It was also nominated for the

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

of the

Belgian Film Critics Association The Belgian Film Critics Association (, UCC) is an organization of film critics from publications based in Brussels, Belgium. History The Belgian Film Critics Association was founded in the early 1950s in Brussels. Its membership includes film r ...

. Wins *

**Special Jury Prize **Coppa Volpi for the Best Actor: Vincent Gallo **CinemAvvenire Award: Best Film In Competition *25th

Mar del Plata Film Festival The Mar del Plata International Film Festival () is an List of film festivals, international film festival that takes place every November in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. It is the only competitive feature festival recognized by the FIAPF ...

**Golden Astor for Best Film **Silver Astor for Best Actor: Vincent Gallo **ACCA Award (Argentine Film Reviewers Association): Best Film in the International Competition *13th

**Eagle for Best Film **Eagle for Best Director: Jerzy Skolimowski **Eagle for Best Music:

Paweł Mykietyn Paweł Jan Mykietyn (Polish pronunciation: ; born 20 May 1971) is a Polish award-winning composer and clarinetist. By the year 2012, Mykietyn had written two symphonies, cello, piano and violin concertos, St. Marc Passions for soprano, narrator ...

**Eagle for Best Editing: Réka Lemhényi/Maciej Pawliński *36th

**Golden Lion for Best Film **Best Director: Jerzy Skolimowski **Best Cinematography: Adam Sikora **Best Music: Paweł Mykietyn **Best Editing: Réka Lemhényi/Maciej Pawliński *11th Sopot Film Festival **Grand Prix

References

External links

* * * *
Essential Killing
at culture.pl
''Essential Killing'' North American premiere at the 35th Toronto International Film Festival

''Movie City News'' video interview with Jerzy Skolimowski on the making of ''Essential Killing''.

''Film New Europe'' interview with Jerzy Skolimowski and the making of ''Essential Killing''.

''Spanish article at MovieDoses'' about ''Essential Killing''.
{{Venice Film Festival Grand Jury Prize 2010 films American thriller films 2010s English-language films English-language Hungarian films English-language Norwegian films English-language Polish films Films directed by Jerzy Skolimowski Films produced by Jeremy Thomas Films with screenplays by Jerzy Skolimowski Films set in Afghanistan HanWay Films films Recorded Picture Company films Hungarian thriller films Irish thriller films Norwegian thriller films Polish thriller films Prisoner of war films 2010s survival films War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) films Venice Grand Jury Prize winners Films set in Poland Films shot in Israel Films shot in Poland Films shot in Norway 2010s American films English-language adventure films Akson Studio films