e-Paper

MY ! Desktop Reader

LIFESTYLE FROM THE EDGE Select Language

Live it!

Murder in Stalin’s paradise

Quah Su Ann / The Edge Financial Daily
April 17, 2015 13:04 pm +08

Movie review: Child 44

Director: Daniel Espinosa
Cast: Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Noomi Rapace, Joel Kinnaman
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Length: 137 minutes
Opening: Now showing
It is the 1950s, and Stalin’s oppressive regime has created an atmosphere of
fear and paranoia, and distrust looms beneath the surface of all his subjects’
thoughts and actions. MGB agent Leo Demidov (Tom Hardy) has risen through
the ranks following his brave actions in combat during World War II, and lives
an opulent lifestyle with his wife, Raisa (Noomi Rapace).

Blindly loyal to the communist regime, Leo spends his days flushing out and
capturing supposed state traitors, some of whom appear to be completely
innocent. After a particularly harrowing episode where one of his targets is
harboured by farmers who are subsequently shot to death by a comrade, Vasili
(Joel Kinnaman), Leo starts to question the morality of his actions.  

After Raisa is framed for being a state traitor working for the West, Leo is
forced to come to terms with his sense of right and wrong. Being the ethical
man that he is, Leo chooses to tell the truth about his wife’s innocence instead
of blindly following orders to show his loyalty.

The couple is stripped of their riches and banished to live in a godforsaken

outpost in the middle of nowhere with General Timur Nesterov (Gary Oldman)
as Leo’s new commander. At the brink of losing his sanity, Leo starts piecing
together evidence of a serial killer who is travelling around Russia, murdering
young children wherever he turns up.

Although Child 44’s premise is that of a detective-style thriller, it is actually a

huge melting pot of war scenes, political undertones, historical examinations
of the Soviet Union’s oppressive regime and of the very human struggle
between doing what is right and what is easy.

Hardy’s portrayal of Leo is exquisitely precise. No frames are wasted on

meaningless expressions and actions — every nuance is etched perfectly upon
his face, and the audience is completely convinced of the internal struggle that
Leo faces in every scene. From the unravelling of his job to that of his
marriage, we watch a war hero turned unquestioning government agent and
finally into a man with convictions and powerful ethics; a man who is not
afraid to stand up for what is right.

Rapace is almost equally commendable as Raisa, the meek wife who seems to
be harbouring some sort of secret that we don’t get to find out until more than
halfway through the movie. Is she a spy? Is she really a traitor? She really
comes to her own, though, far from the “damsel in distress” that we see in the
beginning of the movie. Rapace gets to kick a lot of ass… literally. Something
that we do not see much of in period films.

Throughout the movie, the murders seem to take a backseat to the other plots
that are focused on, and rightly so, because Child 44 is more an examination of
the human spirit and political atmosphere than it is a Sherlock Holmes-type
story. If there was anything that could have made the movie better, is that
there should have been fewer fight scenes as there were really too many of
them which took up a significant amount of screen time; and more character
development.

It would have been an excellent movie if the emotional undertones that briefly
shine through in the acting of Hardy and Rapace were be expanded and
explored more deeply. Instead, the viewer is left to guess at what the
characters are feeling and thinking through gestures and unspoken words.

Even so, Child 44 is a worthwhile watch and captures Hardy at his best. His
performance is what steals the show — it is what makes the movie so
compelling. Humanity is made up of mostly sheep and a very minute number
of those who have the conviction and strength stand up for the truth. In Leo
Demidov, we are inspired to embrace being brave in the face of fear, and to
always do what is right, not what is easy.
This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 17, 2015.

Subscribe to Editor's Picks

& Mid-day email alert

We deliver news to your

inbox daily

Email Address

SUBSC RIBE

RELATED NEWS
8 January 2018
Neo Group sets up Kim’s Paradise with
'tingkat king' goal in mind
4 March 2009
 MCA: Why no news of police’s internal
probe in Kugan’s death?
20 February 2011
City&Country: Offshore-- HK as shopper’s
paradise under threat as rents rise
18 November 2013
Special integrated operation to reinforce
security in Sabah's east coast

FEATURED VIDEOS

○ ○
07 Mar | 01:09pm # Featured 06 Mar | 08:55pm # Featured 06 Mar | 01:16pm

#JUSTSAYING: Fake news, zero EVENING 5: TA Global says not TALKING EDGE: “W
trust contacted by FBI put their hand up”

" MOST READ

MOST WATCHED

1
Sarawak gains full control
over state's oil and gas
sector as Malaysia
election nears
 2
‘Wolf of Wall Street’
producer to pay $60
million in settlement

3
AirAsia appoints NYSE-
listed Salesforce as
strategic technology
partner

4
JAKS drops with KLCI
and after co says seeking
arbitration

5
‘Wolf of Wall Street’
producer to pay US$60
mil settlement

(https://www.edgeprop.my)

Save Kuala Lumpur to

(/content present manifesto to
/1290889 Parliament next week
/save- (/content/1290889/save-
kuala- kuala-lumpur-present-
lumpur- manifesto-parliament-
present- next-week)
manifesto-
VIEW MORE >> (HTTPS://WWW.EDGEPROP.MY
parliament-
/NEWS?FIELD_CATEGORY_VALUE=NEWS)
next-week)
 e-Paper
Desktop Reader

Home About Us Join Us Contact Us Advertise with us Subscription Sitemap

Term of use PDPA

© All rights reserved. 2018. The Edge Communications Sdn. Bhd.