Child 44
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Starring: Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Noomi Rapace
137 mins; Class 15;
KRS Releasing Ltd
There is an interesting story to be told at the heart of Child 44. Truth be told, there are more than one… it is the story of a child, one of the many orphans of the Ukrainian-Soviet War of 1917, who rose to achieve prominence as a World War II hero to become an esteemed member of the Soviet secret police.
It is about the troubled marriage between the protagonist and his wife. It is also loosely inspired by the search for a prolific child killer that terrified Moscow and its environs in 1950s Soviet Russia.
And finally, it is about the oppressive totalitarian regime in which the protagonists live; the inherent paranoia that comes with it and the unfettered brutality of those corrupted by power.
However, the myriad plot strands never come together to make a cohesive whole; despite the best efforts of the impressive ensemble cast.
Tom Hardy stars as Moscow secret police agent Leo Demidov, a man of position and privilege who commands respect and fear in equal measure as he hunts down enemies of the State.
When accused spy Anatoly Tarasovich Brodsky (Jason Clarke) names Demidov’s wife Raisa (Noomi Rapace) as a traitor, he refuses to denounce her, despite pressure from his superiors.
Stripped of status and belongings, the couple are exiled to the remote provincial town of Volsk. There, Demidov teams up with General Mikhail Nesterov (Gary Oldman) in the hunt for a serial murderer of young boys; a case Demidov could not pursue in his previous position, as murder is deemed to be an ‘evil capitalist crime’ – so much so, that Stalinist decree dictates, “There is no crime in Paradise.”
Based on author Tom Rob Smith’s best-selling novel of the same name, Child 44 never quite offers the character depth or thrills its subject matter promises.
The myriad plot strands never come together
Director Daniel Espinosa – while effectively recreating the oppressive atmosphere of 1950’s Stalinist Russia – squanders his fascinating source material and strong cast on what is overall a dark and dour, grim and grey effort which doesn’t quite engage.
The different storylines each struggle for attention and oftentimes intrude onto one another, with none of them explored in any depth. The serial killer strand turns out to be a bit of a damp squib.
The international ensemble includes Swedish actor Joel Kinnaman, Frenchman Vincent Cassel and Englishman Paddy Considine… and for the most part they speak their lines throughout with heavy and inconsistent Russian accents. This is wildly distracting and a faux pas that is unforgivable in a production of this scope.
Bad accent aside, Hardy is as ever watchable as Demidov. This is an actor who has made excellent career choices to date, each role allowing him to display considerable range.
He cuts an imposing figure in his uniform, physically embodying the character as easily as he does his emotions – his inner humanity at odds with the persona he pro-jects while on the job, struggling to do the right thing in the face of obstructive bureaucracy.
As displayed in the recent The Drop, Hardy shares genuine chemistry with Rapace, who portrays Raisa with the meek and quiet dignity of an unhappy and frightened woman who nevertheless exudes quiet strength.
The couple share some good scenes, yet, much like the rest of it, the film never quite gets to grips with their complex relationship (he loves her, she seems to love him not), but thanks to the duo’s committed performances you do get to care a little for them and I longed for more time with them and less on the differing storylines which never quite gel.