We are our minds and captives of our lands, our culture and the
stories we are told — at least those we believe. Deadly
Code (also released as Siberian
Education), and The Drop show
humans who cannot get beyond the limits of the code of the culture that shaped
them. One film is set in the foreign country of Siberia, the other in a foreign
place known as Brooklyn.
If author Dennis
Lehane didn’t like The Drop, he
would have no one to blame but himself.
He wrote the short story on which it was based, wrote the screenplay for
the film and then a novel by the same name based on the movie. He squeezed
every drop from the plot, as well he should. The Drop is flawless. It is
dark, moody, surprisingly twisty with correspondingly top-notch acting and
cinematography. Tom Hardy portrays
an easy-to-forget bartender in a tough part of Brooklyn. He is seemingly under
the control of failed gangster boss James
Gandolfini in what unfortunately turned out to be the actor’s last role. Naomi Rapaceis is a woman trying to
survive abuse. Michaël R. Roskam directed this tough,
expertly crafted crime film released last year.
While The Drop inhabits
the insular culture of Brooklyn, The
Deadly Code takes us to a place far more foreign, but also bound by the
code of its culture. This is a bleak look at an occupied people seeking to hold
on to their identity in the midst of the clash. It is a story that epitomizes the constant
clash of cultures throughout the world — all little tribes, separated by their
own stories of the truth. Fear and hate cause endless victimization and
retaliation. Though there seems to be some debate about the specific truth of this
particular story, there appears to be a larger truth that unsurprisingly the
film, though thought-provoking as it is, doesn’t or can’t express) and
certainly can’t solve. John Malkovich
does a masterful job of being keeper of the moral principles and storyteller
for the oppressed culture. Gabriele Salvatores directed the film
released in 2013 based on an unpublished novel by Nicolai Linin. The Deadly
Code is a good film on every level and provides a glimpse into a world we
rarely see.
To accompany the films, there’s no need for anything
high-end. I’m tempted to suggest you
blend the endless down & out bar scenes of The Drop with the snowy Siberian weather and ramshackle villages of
Deadly Code by suggesting stale
popcorn and Vodka.
