William Hurt

Lee Marvin

Brian Dennehy

Ian Bannen

Joanna Pacula

Michael Elphick

Richard Griffiths

Rikki Fulton

Alexander Knox

Alexei Sayle

Ian McDiarmid

Niall O'Brien

Henry Woolf

Tusse Silberg

Patrick Field

Juuso Hirvikangas

Marjatta Nissinen

Heikki Leppänen

Lauri Törhönen

Elsa Salamaa

Anatoli Davydov

Lars Lindberg

Jussi Parviainen

Michael Apted

Dennis Potter

Martin Cruz Smith

Gene Kirkwood

Hawk Koch

Bob Larson

James Horner

Ralf D. Bode

Dennis Virkler

Anders Hedin

Pirjo Hokkanen

Dan Kolsrud

Chris Thompson

Henrik von Sydow

Peter Waller

Mary Selway

Paul Sylbert

Michael Seirton

Richard Bruno

Vesa Tapola

Bonnie Timmermann

Sue Wain

Mary Holdsworth

Peter MacDonald

Frank Connor

Peter Childs

Efrem Harkham

Uri Harkham

Simon Kaye

Redmond Morris

Alan Boyle

Ken Lintott

Tricia Cameron

David R. Ellis

Juhani Jotuni

Martin Evans

Ray Meehan

Mary McGlone

George Brand

Brian Humphrey

Robert J. Litt

Elliot Tyson

Rick Kline

Greig McRitchie

Dan Wallin

Michael Hilkene

David R. Elliott

Fred Judkins

John Kline

Russ Tinsley

Christopher T. Welch

Alan Grabelsky

Toivo Lehmusvirta

Asko Partanen

Guy Travers

Susanne Ruben

Dena Vincent

Heidi Nyberg

Tusse Lande

John Campbell

Eamonn O'Keeffe

Frank Batt

David Sutton

Taffy Haines

Kjell Eriksson

Jim Erikson

Dave Reilly

Barry Arnold

Brian Camby

Lars Logard

Pertti Kuusela

Paddy Sharkey

Pat Williamson

Jukki Tuura

Jack Carter

Lee Apsey

David Williamson

Derek Dackombe

James Crockett

George Parish

Alan Williams

David Morani

Brian Sullivan

Alan Grosch

Jari Heino

Kari Kekkonen

Ted Lindahl

Ulf Björck

Eija-Leena Lehmuskallio

Jim Franklyn

Ellen Kolsrud

Anneli Brummer

Heli Hänninan

Candy Flanagin

Paul H. Stewart

Alan Whibley

Thriller

Crime

Drama

Mystery

Gorky Park

Orion Pictures

Eagle Associates

Orion

United States of America

English

based on novel or book

cold war

politician

municipal park

government conspiracy

moscow, russia

CinemaSerf

When "Insp. Renko" (William Hurt) is called to investigate a rather gruesome find in Moscow's Gorky park, he is soon embroiled in a conspiracy that leaves him unsure whom he can trust. The KGB are involved as are the Americans - and soon it all points to the enigmatic furrier "Osborne" (Lee Marvin) who has a nifty line in sable hats. What now ensues is a rather dry and procedural mix of thriller and romance with the very presence of Marvin as much of a dead giveaway as you are ever going to get. Marvin brings a certain screen presence, but that just serves to illustrate just how much Hurt is going through the motions - he usually underwhelmed I found. Here the supporting cast led by Brian Dennehy and the occasional contribution from Ian Bannen as the slightly duplicitous prosecutor "Iamskoy" don't really add up to very much either. It all just lacks any sense of intrigue and the plot takes far too long to build up steam. It's very wordy, too - far too much dialogue that actually drags the story down to a almost glacially slow pace. A tighter edit and less verbiage might have made it more attractive, but as it is - well, it's all just bit dull. Chilly, but dull.

**_Of Sables and Men… in snowy Moscow and Stockholm_**

A militsiya inspector (William Hurt) examines the murder of three people in their 20s in the woods near the skating rink of Gorky Park, all with their faces and finger tips removed. Linked to the investigation are: a KGB major (Rikki Fulton), a movie set worker (Joanna Pacuła), the Chief Prosecutor (Ian Bannen), a smug American sable importer (Lee Marvin) and a New York detective (Brian Dennehy), amongst others.

Based on Martin Cruz Smith’s novel from two years earlier, “Gorky Park” (1983) is a police procedural with the distinction of taking place behind the Iron Curtain during the cold winter of northeastern Europe. It features an honest detective under pressure in a system that seems to operate only through corruption while underlining the conflict between Russia’s socialism and homegrown capitalism.

I guess this explains why the Soviet Communist Party denounced the movie as anti-Communist and anti-Russian, denying the crew access to shoot in Moscow. So, it was filmed in Helsinki, with the Kaisaniemi Park substituting for the titular one, as well as Stockholm.

The score by James Horner is great and one of the highlights, mixing the 80s with a Russian feel for a hauntingly bleak mood. Some people don’t think it fits, though.

Marvin, Hurt and Dennehy are superb in their roles, especially Marvin as the cocky American importer. He was 59 during shooting and would appear in only three more movies before his death in 1987 at the too-young age of 63.

It’s comparable in some ways to the dialogue-driven “The Russia House” with Sean Connery, which debuted seven years later, but this is all-around more interesting and artistic IMHO. It subtly distinguishes between the noble souls and corrupt ones; and then impressively refuses to deviate from that first impression with a moronic ‘twist,’ such as in the eye-rolling “Along Came a Spider.”

There’s a lot of talk about escaping the shackles of Communistic rule and fleeing to the perceived paradise of America, which is ironic for several reasons, including the fact that the Iron Curtain would be down in a relatively short time. Regardless, the symbolism of the climax is potent.

It runs 2 hours, 8 minutes. 

GRADE: B+

Gorky Park (1983) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD 1080p]

Gorky Park( 1983)

Murder In Moscow

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A review by CinemaSerf

Written by CinemaSerf on Fri Nov 04 2022

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