Gorky Park (1983)

Director:

Michael Apted

Writers:

Martin Cruz Smith (novel)
Dennis Potter (writer)

Release Date:

12 January 1984 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller | Crime

Tagline:

It all began with three faceless bodies in the snow ...

Plot:

An investigator on the Moscow police force relentlessly pursues the solution to a triple homicide which occurred in Moscow's Gorky Park...

Plot Keywords:

Conspiracy | Skating | Disembowelment | Moscow Russia | Murder

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

William Hurt	...	Arkady Renko
Lee Marvin	...	Jack Osborne
Brian Dennehy	...	William Kirwill
Ian Bannen	...	Iamskoy
Joanna Pacula	...	Irina Asanova
Michael Elphick	...	Pasha
Richard Griffiths	...	Anton
Rikki Fulton	...	Maj. Pribluda
Alexander Knox	...	General
Alexei Sayle	...	Golodkin
Ian McDiarmid	...	Prof. Andreev
Niall O'Brien	...	KGB Agent Rurik
Henry Woolf	...	Levin
Tusse Silberg	...	Natasha
Patrick Field	...	Fet

Also Known As:

Gorky Park (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Brottsplats: Gorkij parken (Sweden) [sv]
Eglima sto Gorky Park (Greece) [el]
El parque Gorky (Colombia) (cable TV title) [es]
Gorkij park (Hungary) [hu]
Gorkin puisto (Finland) [fi]
Mistério no Parque Gorky (Brazil) [pt]
Mordene i Gorkijparken (Norway) [no]
Moskova'da cinayet (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
O Mistério de Gorky Park (Portugal) [pt]
Park Gorki (Serbia) [sr]
Park Gorkiego (Poland) [pl]

Runtime:

128 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Canada:14+ (Ontario) | Netherlands:12 | West Germany:16 (f) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Gamla Stan, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Company:

Eagle Associates

Trivia:

The Rolls Royce driven across from Tegelbacken to Gamla Stan, supposedly with Lee Marvin behind the wheel, was in fact driven by the Swedish co-producer, according to the press release at any rate, because having Marvin do it would have cost more. Marvin and Hurt exit the vehicle right above the famous Five Small Houses restaurant and enter the foyer of a house rented for the occasion in Danderyd, a suburb north of Stockholm fifteen miles away.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Arkady and Iamskoy are talking together in the sun-room of Iamskoy's dacha, the air is so cold that the men's expelled breath is clearly visible as vapor clouds. Yet in many scenes in the movie when the air would be much colder, most notably when Irina is being chased through the streets at night, no-one's breath is visible as expelled clouds of vapor.

Quotes:

Jack Osborne: There's a sliver of food on your upper lip.
Arkady Renko: I'm just a plodding investigator, no style. Completely out of my depth. Oh, yes. Three bodies, three people, shot down and mutilated in Gorky Park, and me, I have food on my lip.
Jack Osborne: Not even caviar at that. I somehow feel that the executioner, whoever he may be, would have preferred somebody, a more nimble opponent.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Pod People (#4.3)" (1991)

Soundtrack:

Swan Lake

One man versus the system

This is a fairly common story, that of an honest man fighting alone against a corrupt system. The setting is unusual, and the plot has some entertaining twists.

William Hurt plays Senior Investigator Renko, of the Moscow Militia (i.e. police). He is assigned to a high-profile murder case, and finds himself alternately prodded on, hindered or even threatened by his own superiors, by the KGB and by his obvious suspect. All these people are acting so self-confidently compared to Renko's plodding, that the sense of loneliness, or even of paranoia is very apparent.

Much of the action is contrived and unconvincing, both in its development and denouement, although the film does build to a good climax. On the other hand, all the characterisations of ordinary russians, who must have been strange creatures to film directors and audiences alike at the time, is very good.

The directors discarded one of the original novel's best tricks, that of sending Renko to New York (to recover valuable state property), and confronting him with the law enforcement system which gave rise to "Kojak" and the "Hill Street Blues".

Overall this is quite a good film, and fairly close to the novel. There are some sequels written which deserve to appear on the screen.