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Gorky Park (1983) More at IMDbPro »

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40 comments in total

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21 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :-
Good fun in Helsinki, 7 April 2002

Author: matlock-6 from Chicago, IL

I enjoy this film immensely, not only for the great acting of Brian Dennehey, William Hurt, and Lee Marvin, but for the fact that it is about police in some place other than New York or Los Angeles.

Hurt is very believable as a Russian cop who has to track down a murderer. Marvin is great as his adversary, the corrupt American businessman.

The primary complaint about this film is that it wasn't filmed in Russia. What people tend to forget is that it was made at the height of the cold war, and Soviet Premier Chernenko and the Politburo would not have opened Moscow to an American film crew, much less one that wanted to make a movie that depicts the various Russian agencies and beuraucrats as being as corrupt as Marvin.

In the end, they settled for Helsinki, Finland (which I guess is a fair trade-off, since Finland was technically a part of Russia for a few hundred years). Those who are familiar with Helsinki will probably mock this film (as my Finnish girlfriend did), but if you're not familiar, or willing to look past that shortcoming, then you will probably enjoy this movie quite a bit. They even went as far as to use Russian built "Ladas" (a brand of car) in the movie.

Today, this movie would have been made in Moscow or St. Petersburg, and would probably be better. But it's still good, well made overall, and worth watching.

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14 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Suspenseful '80s Cold War Thriller, 11 July 2005

Author: Hal-900 from WA, USA

This is not a great film, but it is an interesting time capsule. "Gorky Park" is based on Martin Cruz Smith's popular book of the same name. I have always liked the movie, but now I realize how well the film captures the Reagan Era. In actuality, back in 1983, it was very shocking (and daring) to see a mainstream American film that took place behind the doors of the 'evil empire' (aka Russia), where the hero is a 'ruskie' (William Hurt) and the main baddie is an American (Lee Marvin). Modern audiences are bound to miss the controversial air surrounding the film, but I think that the story's twists and turns will keep viewers entertained. Hurt is one of my (1980s) favorite actors (I see him as a modern version of Gregory Peck), and he is excellent in one of his few ethnic roles. However, the best thing about the film is actor Marvin in one of his last roles - he is a deliciously evil villain. James Horner's score is appropriately creepy (if a bit derivative) and kudos to the production designer who managed to convince this viewer that the film was actually filmed in Russia. Very entertaining production.

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15 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
Well Made, Bittersweet Police Procedural, 18 October 2004

Author: Terrell-4 from San Antonio, Texas

It's winter and three corpses are found in Moscow's Gorky Park. They've had their faces and finger tips carved off. Arkady Renko, an honest, slightly obsessive Russian cop, is assigned to the case. He sets out to identify the bodies by reconstructing their faces, and as he gets closer he finds obstructions in his path. He finds a girl (Joanna Pacula) who was friends of the trio, a wealthy and ruthless American (Lee Marvin), an American cop (Brian Dennehy) out for blood, and more than he probably wants to know about sable coats and the animals they're made from. It becomes clear that corrupt higher-ups are involved in something with greater stakes than solving a triple murder. Hurt and Marvin do great jobs and are well matched.

This is a tight, very well constructed police procedural that is a little exotic, with the cops and functionaries being Russians. It's also a bit gloomy with a bitter sweet ending, but it still works as a very watchable film. A lot of the outdoor shots were filmed in Helsinki, and the movie takes place in the winter. The atmosphere looks cold and oppressive. The contrast is striking with the scenes set in a pre-revolutionary bath and an expensive restaurant, both reserved for the use of privileged Soviet officials.

The book, by Martin Cruz Smith, is even better. Apted also directed Enigma, and I like both movies a lot.

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10 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Read the Book, 16 December 2002
Author: scoobydoorocks from Canada

I saw this movie and unfortunately was very disappointed. After reading the brilliant book written by Martin Cruz Smith I expected a brilliant screenplay in movie form. I was wrong, many characters are missing which are vital to the story line and Hurt's performance of the title character is not believable, his accent isn't even right! Not that I don't think Hurt is a talented actor, I just didn't feel he was the right person for the part. The only thing that made the movie bearable for me was the the perfect casting choice of Lee Marvin as the American. It was as though this part was written for him and no one else. If you want to see the movie, read the book first (its will explain the holes in the plot for you) and enjoy one of Lee Marvin's last great performances!

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
A great period piece mystery, 16 October 2004

Author: Gregg Greene from Eugene, OR

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I am not a big fan of William Hurt, but his plodding acting style is perfect for the plodding Moscow city police inspector he plays in this movie. It's fascinating to see how heavy the old Soviet Union bureaucracy was.

Spoilers herein: The last 45 minutes are filled with a great many twists that keep the viewer engaged, and it's definitely a film with a Socialist point of view, the protagonist a mundane Soviet bureaucrat, the antagonist an American entrepreneur. Yet, as with all good mysteries, it's the suspense and drama that make this film so good. Lee Marvin, Brian Dennehy, and Ian Bannen play their parts equally well, and Joanna Pacula probably has her best role in this film as Irina. Vote: 9 of 10.

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7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Krasnya horrorshow, 30 September 2003

Author: Robert J. Maxwell (rmax304823@yahoo.com) from Deming, New Mexico

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

For some reason I almost always watch this when it appears on cable TV. The plot, twisted and complicated as it is, is a bit hard to follow at times although it does make sense if you pay attention. But I think it's the general milieu that is evoked by the location shooting, wardrobe, makeup, and art direction that makes this interesting.

Boy, it looks cold! Everyone seems to dress in multilayered dark clothing and the men wear Pelzkappe, those big furry caps. When characters speak in outdoor scenes, their breath steams, though not always, so you can pretty much distinguish the scenes shot in the studio from those outside. Smith's novel was a bit more explicit about the material culture of Moscow than this movie is. Not only doesn't Chief Investigator Hurt's cheesy looking compact car have a heater but his shoes are made partly of cardboard.

Viewers usually don't pay much attention to makeup unless it draws attention to itself but the makeup department should get a medal for this one. First off, everyone is pale, as they should be in the midst of a Russian winter. The usual tendency is to pile on the suntan and make everyone glamorous. If you want to see an example of what I mean, watch "A Time to Love and a Time to Die", the scene in which John Gaving as a German soldier returns from months at the front during the winter and takes a bath naked so we can all admire his muscles and that tan he sports all over his body, suggesting not November in Kursk but a summer at the beach in Zihuatanejo. Then there is Joanna Pacula's makeup. She's pale too but she's given just enough eyeshadow or kohl or whatever it is, and her brows and lashes are emphasized just enough to make her look even more modelesque than she ordinarily would. If her eyebrows were any darker she'd look like Audrey Hepburn in "Sabrina." As it is, with her blue eyes framed by those orbital rings and her chestnut curls cascading around her cheeks, she looks slightly predatory, maybe like a sable. In some later movie she played a vampire, I think, and I can see why she was cast. William Hurt, likewise pale, even paler than usual come to think of it, is likewise nicely handled. His thin stringy hair has been blackened for some reason. I don't know why. There are plenty of blond Russians. Look at Alexander Gudonov.

Hurt's character is nobody's idea of a superhero. He's just an earnest cop who can be beaten up, as he is several times. After he has killed a traitor who happened to be a man of considerable importance in the Soviet bureaucracy, he next shows up on screen with a small shiner the color of a storm cloud on one of his eyelids and a slight scab on his lower lip. He's been clobbered by the KGB for the killing, you see. But we don't see it on screen, or hear it described. The bruises on his face tell the story. How tempting it must have been to make more of these possibilities. A Makeup Department could have gone ape here -- one cheek stuffed with cotton, bandages on his head, his face a welter of bruises. But this is tastefully done, giving you all the information you need in order to know what happened. Actually, there is one tan face in the crowd -- Lee Marvin's. But it suits him. And he's an American businessman who only visits the USSR from time to time so, between visits, for all we know he may be stretched out on the beach at Bora Bora. He even wears beige and dark browns that match his suntan, and he's the only one in the bunch who actually looks spiffy. William Hurt may be chewed out by his superior for not having shaved closely enough but that would never happen to Marvin, who looks like he just stepped out of five-hundred-dollar a head hair salon.

There isn't a line spoken by Marvin that doesn't ring with irony. Every pause, every facial twitch, every curious line reading, tells us that this guy is very clever and he knows it. Pacula's performance is that of a model who's taken acting lessons. William Hurt, a fine actor, does some strange things here. He LOOKS the part of the determined militia detective, relatively quiet, rarely smiling, seldom physical -- but he drapes his speech in British locutions: "yore" for "your", "bean" for "been," and so on. We can only guess why. The two Americans (Dennehy and Marvin) speak frank American. The actors playing Russians are all from the UK except Pacula, who is Polish and kept help her Slavic accent. So by adopting a Brit accent Hurt places himself among the "Russians." Dennehy, by the way, is at the top of his form. Marvin is absolutely magnetic, as is Ian Bannon, whose readings have the same ironic pitches and stress as Marvin's. You never believe a word he says.

The film ends on a noble note. Pacula gets to go to America which, as everyone knows, is rich, democratically pure, and free of corruption. Hurt stays behind to save her from being followed and killed by KGB. The novel had a different ending. The hero follows the girl to New York City. They sit down to watch television. The program is one they have never seen before. It's title is, "The Price is Right." ("Come on DOWN!") The hero says something like, "THIS is what it's all about? Money?" And gets up and goes back to Russia leaving the girl flat.

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7 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
One man versus the system, 9 February 2000
Author: hgallon from Derbyshire, UK

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.

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Magnificent!, 5 March 2007

Author: (eugenec4@HOTMAIL.COM) from United States

This is a very good movie with excellent performances by William Hurt and Lee Marvin.If I have a list of favorite movies of all the time, this will qualify as such. A very good adaptation of the book by Martin Cruz Smith. The portrayal of life in Moscow was fascinating,although the movie did not remain faithful to the book one hundred percent.Of course for resons of time script had to be changed a little.But none of the suspense was missing. The action was fast paced , it's one of those movies you don't want it to end.The music score complimented this intense detective story set in a frosty Moscow.I recommend this movie to all those who like original stories set in exotic places like this one in Russia.Arkady Renko is really the epitome of the non-conformistic citizen who cynically sneers at the rotten aparatus of the communist state while trying to solve this triple homicide.

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6 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Cold War Thriller of Highest Order, Fresh Two Decades On, 18 July 2006

Author: David Daniel Ball from Sydney, Australia

Life is cheap when people are desperate.

Gorky Park is a communal leisure area in Moscow. A place of beauty available to the poorest. It was a tenet of faith of US conservatives of the day that communism had left people poor. US liberals of the day claimed that the truth of communist freedoms was being obscured by conservatives. Few in the west understood Soviet life. Whatever the faults of this film, the characters were real, desperate and flawed.

The hero is part superman in the violence. Both touched and Teflon. Hurt plays the naive observer who is witnessing cracks in the paintwork. An honest cop who knows enough politics to live.

The mystery is disturbing, and things get worse. Soviet Russia was a flawed vision of idealists. Nothing works as it is supposed to, and when some well meaning youths attempt to achieve utopia, establishment has a way of buying souls.

Gorky Park is a vision that might have been set in any of many nations where totalitarian regimes fed on the dreams of youth. This is not a common or average film. The violence is extreme and apparently unnecessary, except in some places in the world, such things happen.

I've not read the book.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Too many people in our society disappear., 2 December 2007

Author: lastliberal from Florida

It has been a long time since I last viewed this film, but it was a welcome revisit, and a chance to see a great performance by William Hurt (Kiss of the Spider Woman, A History of Violence, The Proposition). After about a dozen of his films, I never tire of watching him act.

The cast also included Lee Marvin in a very good performance, and the ever-lovable Brian Dennehy. This was also the American debut of Joanna Pacula, who got a Golden Globe nomination for her outstanding performance. And, we also got to see her golden globes in a skintastic moment, right before she gets Hurt! This was her finest film in a career spanning 30 years.

Do not miss this fine police procedural with a surprise ending. The motive is brilliant.

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