Cockney cops in Gorky Park

 

Maybe I've contracted arthouse disease. I hope not. I've never been a multiplex man, but I like to consider myself down to earth enough that I can watch a movie without subtitles and still enjoy it. Hell, I love a big, dumb Cannon film once in a while, something you can kick back and play "count the squibs" with.

But Gorky Park, about a Soviet cop tracing a brutal murder to the top of the KGB, was a struggle for me--a trip to the gulag, if you will. It was probably the first time I ever hungered for sub-titles, and started pulling my hair out because everything was in a language I could actually understand.

Here's the problem: Not one word of Russian is spoken in this film, despite all the characters being, you know, Russian. Most of the characters are Soviets, but not one of them could be described in the least as "Putinesque" (William Hurt, who plays the lead and bears at least passing resemblance to the Russian leader, comes off as tough but kind of fey and wispy, honestly. And is he wearing eyeliner in some scenes?)

Instead of speaking Russian, all the characters speak English. And not just any English--British English. It's often been said that foreign villains are given British accents to connote their alienness. Maybe that seemed like a good idea when the film was made, with the Cold War still on. But here it's just bizarre and confounding. Interestingly enough, Hurt's accent veers closer to patrician New England, versus his compatriots on the force, 'oo 'ave ah clipped, Cockney-toipe accent that you'd expect to hear from singing chimney sweeps, not Soviet police. I'm tempted to wonder if the decision was deliberate: How do we give the main character a less "Soviet" feel, so the audience identifies more with him? Move his accent even farther west.

His love interest, played by Joanna Pacula, is one of the few characters with anything Slavic about her. Russian accent? Check. But she seems to base her personality on those propaganda posters depicting stoic peasant women, looking fearlessly forward to the revolution. It's inspiring if your ideal woman has a practiced, piercing glare and is handy with a sickle.

The only two characters who don't need to affect any linguistic gymnastics are Brian Denahy and Lee Marvin. The former plays a New York cop with streetwise grit. Marvin comes off like a polished, gentleman villain--one who can end your life with a subtle nod to his goons over a raised teacup just as easily as with his bare hands. Neither one needs to alter their voice much to broadcast who they are--but when they interact with the "Soviet" cast members in perfect English, you have to roll your eyes. Did the CCCP ensure every comrade was taught perfect English in case of invasion by the capitalist west?

The language barrier--or lack thereof--shouldn't hinder my enjoyment of the movie as much as it does. But I guess I've gotten to the point where realism counts. I'd rather the Russian lines be spoken in Russian, the English in English, with the subtitles blinking in whenever necessary. Any other way keeps me floating above the story--distracted, distant and a little annoyed.