From the London Film Festival, a tale of wilderness survival in a moral minefield...

"Full of the suspense of the unknown immediate future, Essential Killing's ambiguous ending may leave viewers reeling"

Vincent Gallo's almost mute performance in Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski's latest film Essential Killing makes it difficult to judge an actor already viewed antagonistically. But it may well result in conflicting opinions about this psychological thriller.

Gallo plays Mohammed, an unnamed Taliban member who's captured in Afghanistan by US forces after blowing up three soldiers at close-range. Interrogated and tortured, he's transported to an unspecified European country where he manages to escape when the van he's travelling in overturns.

For much of the rest of Essential Killing, Mohammed struggles through a snow-covered woodland trying to live off the land, while a ground team in white camouflage and a helicopter pursue him. Injured and desperate, he faces a barrage of nature's obstacles until a kindly mute lady attends to his wounds.

Everything is not black and white in Essential Killing, but black, white and red. To survive, Mohammed is forced to kill a van-driver and his passengers, as well as an army dog, but looks pained to do so. Later, however, as his environment affects him, he unnecessarily and maniacally slaughters a wood-cutter. Although traditionally the “baddie,” Skolimowski uses Mohammed's facial expressions and lack of dialogue to render his mysterious character more sympathetic than the hunters who taunt, beat and ruthlessly interrogate him. The bizarre situation in which Mohammed finds himself is perhaps best represented by the strange un-Christian wishes of the helicopter pilot: “I pray to Jesus – someone give me permission to fire at him.”

In addition to his plight as prey, Mohammed's situation evokes compassion. From shuffling through the prison camp with chains on and a bag on his head to trudging barefoot through deep snow and standing in a hunting trap, Mohammed's situation is dire. Full of wince-making moments, it's impossible not to empathise with Mohammed as he tries to live off insects, grubs, berries and tree bark, is propelled down a snowy cliff-face into a frozen lake, or faces an uphill icy struggle on his hands and knees, reminiscent of trying to go against a running machine or escalator.

Essential Killing is very much an atmospheric experience as Skolimowski's magnified surroundings allow us to hear for Mohammed after a close proximity rocket explosion partially deafens him, leaving sounds muffled. The noise of flies buzzing, laboured breathing and panting, thudding ear drums, footfalls trudging through snow, strong winds, night bird calls, horses' hooves, ferocious dogs barking, chainsaws and trees cracking...these all help to put the viewer into Mohammed's environment.

Sound also helps us to understand Mohammed's uncompromising circumstances - the sound of blood splatters hitting the floor indicate how hard he has been beaten. The jarring whir of the chopper contrasting with the silence of the woods is like a direct invasion or assault on nature. The film's sinister electronic soundtrack sparingly heightens our sense of Mohammed's fear, with dissonant, echoey sounds converging oppressively to contrast with the peaceful sounds of a man fishing and at one with nature.

Skolimowski carefully chooses two extreme landscapes to depict the threats from nature each terrain poses. At the beginning his rugged rocky surroundings, with their labyrinthine caves, walkways and flat open spaces, expose Mohammed as an easy target. In the woods a hand-held camera-effect captures the experience of being pursued. Meandering contoured aerial shots of the woods and snow-scapes show the vast expanse of nothing that Mohammed is entering, emphasising his isolation and dire chances of finding salvation.

Amid all the surveillance that both Mohammed and his would-be captors undertake are an enmeshed series of flashbacks to Mohammed finding Allah (“Whoever fights in the cause of Allah shall get mighty rewards”), teasing us with the prospect of revealing more about our dubious silent “protagonist”. The sped-up snippets of flashback are almost menacing, and Mohammed's dreams are full of death - perhaps partially explaining what moulded him into the man he's become.

Although a predominantly bleak and punishing film that concentrates on one man's attempts at survival, Skolimowski does inject Essential Killing with the odd moment of light relief. After Mohammed blatantly steals a fish, the fisherman retorts: “I hope you choke on it, you freak”. When Mohammed's pursuers surround a man in an outhouse, a goofy figure attempting to ride a bike through the snow approaches and there's a bizarrely comical yet revolting violation of a breast-feeding woman.

Whether Mohammed is “[essentially] killing” for his faith or to survive or nature is “[essentially] killing” him is unclear but viewers will nevertheless experience a morbid fascination with how his situation will be resolved. Full of the suspense of the unknown immediate future, Essential Killing's ambiguous ending may leave viewers reeling.

Director: Jerzy Skolimowski
Writer: Jerzy Skolimowski, Ewa Piaskowska
Country: Poland
Running Time: 83 mins
Starring: Vincent Gallo, Emmanuelle Seigner

There is currently no official release information for 'Essential Killing'

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