Blu-ray Review: Easy Money - Hard to Kill (2012)

Now Available to Own   

AKA: Easy Money II
Foreign Title: Snabba Cash II 

“What you want can’t be bought. Class is something you’re born with,” a character tells JW (Joel Kinnaman) in this unrelentingly visceral sequel to the Swedish blockbuster crime saga Easy Money, based on the novel of the same name in the Stockholm Noir trilogy by author Jens Lapidus.

Zeroing in on JW’s lifelong desire to belong among the rich and powerful which propelled Kinnaman’s brainy economics student to move from cabbie to coke dealer in his award-winning transformative performance throughout helmer Daniel Espinosa's predecessor, it's this observation that defines JW right to the core.

Easy Money: Hard to Kill takes us even deeper into the personal lives of those who populate the Noir world of contemporary Sweden first introduced in 2010.

Hard to Kill (which is known as Snabba Cash II overseas) builds its multifaceted storyline from the first two books in Lapidus’s triology which has garnered rave reviews from and/or comparisons to the likes of James Ellroy and Dennis Lehane.

Whereas the first film sectioned its characters into two to three “groups” overall (not counting minor subplots and non-criminal relationships), the highly complicated sequel is far more ambitious. Spreading out the narratives and expanding on characterizations, it helps immensely to have watched the first film recently before you jump back into the fray.

Picking up where we left off, we catch up with the characters three years after JW’s fateful double-cross found him double-crossed as well. Using the gun that made its way into his hand to fire a bullet into Mrado (Dragomir Mrsic) after Mrado went back on his word that nobody would get hurt, the previously nonviolent JW (aka the “Mr. Brains” behind the operation) is forever altered by the decision.

Having formed a peaceful alliance with Mrado after the now wheelchair bound man was transferred to JW’s prison, the two men plan for the future together behind bars. Hinging all their hopes for a proseperous future on a piece of financial software that the ever clever, aspiring social climber JW has designed on the inside while using what little connections he has left on the outside, JW eagerly awaits a fateful business meeting to pitch his brain-child to the money men.

When he’s predictably double-crossed at the same time as two of his former partners in crime likewise find themselves as screwed as the second novel’s Swedish title Aldrig Fucka Upp (aka “Never Fuck Up”) implies, events are set in motion for all three of the men's separate storylines to eventually intersect in an unpredictable way.

While narratively speaking, the intertextuality of the three threads that are destined to be woven together recalls other crime sagas of the past twenty-five years from Pulp Fiction to City of God to The Departed, there’s also a Paul Thomas Anderson Magnolia inspired thematic element to JW’s sobering realization that he may be done with the past but it’s certainly not done with him.

Yet that’s not to say that just because it harks to films of the past, we’re left with something unoriginal or clichéd. Quite the contrary, this Swedish trilogy is one of the strongest crime sagas not named The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo to hit the film scene since the era of Infernal Affairs (which became The Departed) and City of God.

Doomed to repeat the past in the present but hopefully with more hard-earned knowledge that will help them in the future, JW falls back on his criminal background. Setting up a one-shot-only score with Mrado, much like the final meet in the previous picture, the resulting event has a domino effect that will impact everyone else one way or another before the final credits roll.

Espinosa’s original film was muted in its color palette, opting for a dark docudramatic feel that prevailed everywhere expect in the golden tinged world of the upper class so that we could truly feel JW’s desire to belong in that perceived picture perfect existence of sunny afternoons, candlelit dinners and romantic sunrises by seeing it through his eyes. Hard to Kill, on the other hand, finds beauty in the most unexpected places.

A undeniably gritty work that’s also unspeakably beautiful, Kill transcends its tough subject matter and the violent confrontations that pervade as various characters try to double-deal, rob, conspire and pull something over on sworn enemies or lifelong friends depending on the day.

An endless merry-go-round of blood, bullets and bags of money changing hands, director Babak Najafi – using a majority of the same crew that worked on the first installment – weaves a hypnotic web that heightens the textures, colors and emotions of any given scene to thrilling effect, which you can especially appreciate in Cinedigm’s razor-sharp Blu-ray transfer.

From bubbles blowing in the wind at a wedding to a dizzyingly surreal use of match cuts to synchronize the action between multiple characters as a bottle of champagne is used as a weapon in one scene and we move right to blood spilling into a sink in an altogether different one, there’s an impressive sense of visceral poetry that pulsates from the first frame to the very last.

Emphasizing who these characters are as people more than ever before – while we’d spent a large amount of time with JW and Mrado in the first film, Hard to Kill delves much deeper into the lives of both Mahmoud (Fares Fares) and Jorge (Matias Varela) this time around.

Echoing Godfather Part II’s exploration of the way familial roots can make a person, Hard to Kill introduces us to new back-stories that not only help fill in the biographical blanks on the main ensemble but (much like the first film) also alludes to the overall themes of the trilogy to illustrate the new challenges faced by the burgeoning cultural and socioeconomic melting pot that Stockholm has become.

And undoubtedly, even though it’s touched upon in Kill, the depth of this work promises greater things to come as all of these plots and themes will assuredly intersect with Ciendigm’s upcoming Blu-ray, DVD and Digital release of the final installment of social climber JW’s Noir trilogy with Easy Money: Life Deluxe.   

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Mongol

Director: Sergei Bodrov

If one were to conduct a public opinion poll on Genghis Kahn today, chances are the most frequent descriptions of the man would consist of terrifying leader, murderer, pillager and barbarian. Yet, after viewing Russian director Sergei Bodrov’s Mongol, the first work of a planned trilogy about the controversial leader born with the name Temudgin, my initial reaction was that perhaps all Kahn needed was a good public relations team to turn worldwide frowns upside down. In showing us the softer side of Kahn as a predominant lover who occasionally fights rather than a horrifying fighter who sometimes loves, one encounters a Kahn who wouldn’t be out of place as the lead hero in Gladiator or Braveheart, and even far more surprisingly, incidentally a man one wouldn’t hesitate to bring home to mom.

Kazakhstan’s official selection for the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 2008 Academy Awards where it made the international cut to become one of five prestigious nominees, Bodrov’s film has drawn countless parallels to old fashioned epics with its grandiose scope and wonderful usage of a vast, overwhelming landscape (painstakingly accurate in its cinematography of Kahn’s old stomping grounds in the countries of China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan). While one is instantly aware of the influences of Ridley Scott especially in some of the expressionistic, alternatively fast and slow motion new aged battle scenes wherein the audience is shown the action from the point-of-view of weaponry as though we’re complicit in the attack, I was also struck by Bodrov’s homage to other foreign masters including Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s work with Toshiro Mifune and especially fellow Russian director Sergei Eisenstien’s much imitated classic Alexander Nevsky.

While admittedly I’m probably the ideal viewer of Mongol with relatively zero knowledge about Genghis Kahn other than his oft-cited reign of terror and it’s obvious that liberties were taken with the facts for the benefit of the cinematic narrative, Bodrov’s aim is undoubtedly true in capturing the spirit of his source material, which is not only based on “leading scholarly accounts” according to the press release but as cited in a Wikipedia referenced interview, was additionally inspired from an ancient Chinese poem which chronicled-- similar to Mongol-- Kahn’s upbringing and marriage.

Opening in the Tangut Kingdom in 1192’s Year of the Black Rat, the nine year old Kahn, then named Temudgin (played by the charismatic young Odnyam Odsuren) accompanies his father to visit the Merkits with the intention of choosing a bride. Immediately thunderstruck by Borte, a bold ten year old girl who initially chides her new acquaintance with the adage that all “smart people choose us for brides,” later, liking his face and similarly in-tune with the lad, she adds the fortuitous afterthought, “you should choose me.” Ignoring his father’s advice to ensure he find a wife with the right description of facial features and one with what his dad repeatedly states has strong legs to keep a man happiest, Temudgin settles on Borte with the intention to marry her in five years. However, his future becomes dangerously uncertain after the death of his father finds him fighting to stay alive verses his people’s arch enemy Targutai (Amadu Mamadakov) who is not only hell bent on taking over as Kahn but promises that-- while he won’t break Mongol tradition and murder a child-- as soon as Temudgin comes of age, he will kill the rightful heir to the leadership.

With plenty of perilous adventures, near misses, abductions and escapes, Temudgin grows into the beginning of the quick thinking legend he would become as—and now played by the impressive Japanese star of Zatoichi, Tadanobu Asano—he finds he can finally marry his equally rebellious tomboy beloved Borte (likable newcomer Khulan Chuluun). However, unfortunately for the newlyweds, their relationship is continually tried with repeated captures and obstacles, none greater than Temudgin’s battles with his blood brother turned rival Jamukha (Road Home star and Mongol scene-stealer Hanglei Sun).

Although the film stumbles considerably in its second half with plodding pacing and a lack of the same take-no-prisoners emotional investment it slayed us with in its first opening sequences, Bodrov more than redeems himself with his expertly staged Eisenstein inspired battle sequences and the stunning photography from two distinctly different cameramen including Russian cinematographer Sergei Trofimov and Quills and Disturbia Dutch veteran lens-man Rogier Stoffers.

Above all Mongol is surprisingly romantic and thankfully intimate for a large scale epic where oftentimes the individual characters get sidestepped in preference for the impact of the bigger picture and emphasis on carnage and casualties. And while it’s a far more sensitive and charismatic Kahn to which history enthusiasts are accustomed, it’s a terrific achievement by Bodrov and one where, given the impressive footing he found right out of the gate, he’ll undoubtedly be able to build off of like a Kahn worthy war strategist in the next two installments to cross the trilogy's finish line with unsurpassed style.

The Walker

Director: Paul Schrader

Whether they’re shopping with Alicia Silverstone in Clueless, dancing with Julia Roberts in My Best Friend’s Wedding, impregnating Madonna in The Next Best Thing, or serving as Jennifer Aniston’s shoulder to cry on in The Object of My Affection, in the late 1990’s with Will & Grace's Debra Messing and Eric McCormack making their debut as television’s perfect couple combination, American straight women learned that while our heterosexual male counterparts are always unpredictable, a good loyal and loving gay best friend never goes out of style. However, leave it to Taxi Driver scribe Paul Schrader to find a new noir inspired approach to the cliché with the final installment of his “lonely man” trilogy, The Walker, which followed American Gigolo and the underrated, sharply executed Light Sleeper.

Instead of simply being utilized to button hard to reach buttons, dish about Dior, or serve as a handsome stand-in when their husbands are out of town, the wealthy and witty Carter Page III (Woody Harrelson) who specializes in gossip but dabbles in real estate one day per week to have a day job finds his primary role as a “walker” (escorting the wealthy political wives from place to place in Washington D.C.) threatened after he helps his closest friend Lynn Lockner (Kristin Scott Thomas) escape the scene of a murder when she finds her lover stabbed. Fearing that the crime and evidence of her extramarital affair will destroy everything important to both herself and her husband, the Senate Minority Leader Larry Lockner (Willem Dafoe), Lynn and Carter flee. But when Carter returns to the apartment to look over everything himself and is spotted by a neighbor, he finds himself implicated in the crime as the top suspect in the ongoing investigation by power hungry Attorney General Mungo Tennant (William Hope) and Washington D.C. Detective Dixon (Geoff Francis), both of whom suspect that Lynn is somehow involved with the killing.

Featuring superb, subtly drawn portrayals of neglected yet deceptively innocent Washington wives by veteran performers including Lily Tomlin and the legendary Lauren Bacall who gets the chance to say some of the film’s best lines, The Walker begins very strongly. However, it seems to grow increasingly muddled as the film nears a conclusion and Schrader abandons his film noir roots and the lonely overtone that began the film in favor of attempting to make it a shrewd Washington D.C. scandalous political piece that never seems to come together in a way that pays off believably for the viewer.

Despite this, it’s of particular interest not only to Schrader’s fans but especially those who are eager to explore Harrelson’s range as he begins the film in a slightly hammy Truman Capote styled manner that makes the overtly gay Carter seem a bit like a caricature before getting a unique and compelling handle on the man. Although ultimately there’s so much more to Carter than Schrader can incorporate into a regular feature length work as there’s some intriguing back story involving his father that was begging to be explored, Schrader really commands our interest in Harrelson’s scenes with the terrifically gifted supporting star Moritz Bleibtreu who plays Carter’s longsuffering Middle Eastern paparazzi photographer on-again/off-again boyfriend Emek Yoglu.

While Light Sleeper still feels like the most successful work, minus that film’s obvious shortcomings, Schrader’s sophisticated if admittedly flawed Walker still feels far more intelligent and contemplative than other films in both the political and noir genres and reminds us once again of his outstanding flair for mature, nuanced, and complicated dialogue.