Child 44 (2015)

I was really looking forward to Child 44, a movie starring Tom Hardy, with Gary Oldman supporting, does the content even matter? The answer yes, the content still matters. Since I'm not sure whether it was poorly adapted or somehow the idea of murder in the soviet union, at a time when murder 'wasn't possible' in a communist state, turned into a boring film.

The problem with Child 44 can be sufficed in a simple statement - It tires to capture the novel and not the essence of the novel. That's about it. Oh! Add to that the absolutely ridiculous decision of changing the most interesting plot twist of the novel and in place adding a thematically wayward orphanage gradient to it.


Child 44 had the backing of an almost perfect cast (almost because I think the actor playing Vasili was a complete misfit), and an acknowledged novel, but it managed to screw up almost every possible advantage that came with the two. I had read the novel but still following the film became a pain in the ass. The pacing and editing both were way off target. At no point did it seem like the Director was in any way interested in handing over the soul and heart of the film to the audience, it simply tried to cover the novel within the framework of the maximum time available for it to do so. Apart from editing, technically rest everything was spot on. Cinematography captured the decaying socialist USSR, the sound design had some interesting elements that had the potential to raise the tension, if it were cut accordingly that is. The rapid coverage that swept passed the eyes like a bullet train made it hard to absorb any feature the film had to offer. Though production design still managed to tower over the crumbling structure and made it an easy catch for the eye, if not for the mind.

On a brighter note, the film solidifies the credibility of Tom Hardy as a reliable actor. He manages to hit the mark, his absorption of the material is more sound than even the creators. He is the only rallying point when everything else falls flat. A point I would want to put forth here though. I believe that a film is a film and a novel is a novel and the two can never be compared, and everything I have tried to say is in line with this basic notion intact.

However, while the acting was fantastic, the actual characterization wasn't. The script was lazy in this respect. For example, Demidov (Hardy) had this whole back story of being a survivor of the 'Holodomor' (a famine deliberately caused by Joseph Stalin that killed millions of Ukrainians) yet it ended up not having any significance on his character whatsoever. Not properly utilizing a major historical event like that also feels like a missed opportunity in itself.

6.4/10·IMDb
24%·Rotten Tomatoes
41%·Metacritic
6/10 - verdict