CHILD 44: HIDDEN AGENDA

Tom Hardy is becoming a force to be reckoned with. An actor who has found himself in numerous roles that are demanding and always able to meet the challenge, he has yet to break the bonds of stardom for some reason. His is not a name that most will instantly connect with stardom but perhaps his turn as Mad Max this past summer will change all that. Until it happens by all means catch any and every movie he makes to witness a great actor, starting with this newly released movie, CHILD 44.

The movie begins a decade before WWII when a young Ukrainian orphan is adopted by a Russian soldier. Fast forward to WWII as the Russians are set to take down Berlin. Hardy stars as Leo Demidov, that young boy grown and a soldier who is chosen to raise the Russian flag over the city and thus becomes an icon for the heroes of the war. Among his compatriots are his best friend Alexi (Fares Fares) and a soldier named Vasili (Joel Kinnaman) who seems more intent on cringing in fear than doing his duty.

The war ends and Leo becomes a pro-Stalin security officer, tracking down those unfaithful to the country and its leader. Life has treated him well and his notoriety from the picture has helped advance him to this point. He ignores the actual ruling style of those in charge since he’s a part of it. He adores his wife Raisa (Noomi Rapace) but subtle hints from her make you wonder if the feeling is mutual.

Leo’s world is turned upside down when he is presented with his next case and person to investigate. That person is his wife Raisa. As Leo finds himself torn as to what to do another incident crashes down upon him. The son of his best friend and colleague Alexi is found murdered near the train tracks. But murder is something that cannot happen in Russia but only a “capitalist society” and the death is ruled an accident, the murderer not even sought.

When Leo reports that there is nothing to the accusations found against Raisa his world is turned upside down. With Vasili now in charge of the government organization looking into the matter, he strips Leo of his rank, lets the couple pack a few things and sends them to a much smaller town where he will work as an investigator under General Nesterov (Gary Oldman). Gone are the days of parties and social events with the couple now forced to share a flat.  The subtle truth behind what seemed to be a perfect marriage has changed as well with Raisa revealing more about where they really stand than Leo realized.

When the body of a young boy is found near the train tracks of this town, Leo takes an interest. He tells them things about the body that he should not know, but all are memories of the facts of his friend’s son’s death. As he talks with his superior and explains all he knows, the pair decide that this killer must be found, even if it means taking on the propaganda machine of the country. As they prepare to do what they must to find the killer, Vasili continues to haunt Leo’s world and demean him as much as possible. His motivations fall back to Leo and Alexi’s witness to his cowardice all those years ago rather than advancing the party. Will this be enough for him to thwart the investigation into the crimes of a murderer who they find to have had 43 previous victims? And will Leo and Raisa be able to uncover the secrets that protect this killer from justice?

Based on the acclaimed novel by Tom Rob Smith (who went on to write more novels involving these characters) the movie has a sumptuous look to it in set design, countryside and styling that does a painstaking job at recreating the past. As we watched the movie my wife talked about how great the movie looked, something she rarely does. She’s right. It looks great. It looks like a movie that should have been playing for several weeks at the local theater. But for some reason it was rushed to DVD which is a shame. It’s better movie than that and deserved to be noticed.

Hardy does another tremendous job of acting here, presenting a character that is flawed but who discovers who he truly is before the movie finishes. Not only does he find his world turned upside down with all he believed called into question, he rises from the ashes to do the job he seems to have been born to do, to become an actual detective. Rapace matches him scene for scene, offering the troubled woman whose own life changes, rises and falls, with that of her husband. By the film’s end how they came together no longer matters.

What make this movie works so well though is its story. Not just the story but the culmination of the work put in by all to make this story one that involves the viewer to the point you don’t look at the actors as actors but actually begin to think of them as the characters they are so immersed in portraying. Everything from the directing to the craftsmanship behind the scenes works toward the common goal of telling this story. And in the end all viewers benefit from that. This is a movie that never got attention but deserves it. It is one worth renting or adding to your collection.

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