Two men come into a small town diner looking for a third man that they have been hired to kill. Directors Marika Beiku, Aleksandr Gordon, and Andrei Tarkovsky do a masterful job of creating a bleak and haunting fatalistic atmosphere, build plenty of tension (the scene in which the counterman waits on a whistling customer while the two killers watch him the whole time is incredibly nerve-wracking), and maintain a tough gritty tone throughout, with especially startling casual use of the n-word. The fine acting by the able cast keeps things humming: Valentin Vinogradov and Vadim Novikiv are appropriately cold and menacing as the two killers, Gordon excels as pragmatic "bright boy" counterman George, Vasily Shaksin brings a chilling resignation to his role as the doomed Ole Andreson, and Yuliy Fayt does well as Ole's loyal friend Nick Adams. The lack of music gives this one a potent sense of stark realism. Gorgeously shot in crisp black and white by Alfredo Alvarez and Aleksandr Rybin, it's well worth a look.

For a class project in a cinema program this isn't bad at all, more of a reenactment of Hemingways's killer short story than a feature film. It takes about as long to watch it as it does to read the original story, with which I assume most of us are familiar.The images are rather crude, the sets spare, and some of the acting is amateurish, although Aleksandr Gordon as George, the manager, is pretty good. He has the pock-marked sullen face that seems suitable to the role of the ordinary man in a frightening one-down position. The other notable performance is by Vasili Shukshin as Ole Anderson, the resigned victim awaiting his fate in a dumpy rooming house.The movie follows the written story closely. In print, when Ole is visited by Nick Adams and, halfway through the conversation, rolls over and faces the wall, he does the same on film. We don't see much of Ole's room. I suppose the budget didn't allow for much display. But when Ole stubs out his cigarette on the wall next to his bed, we see that numerous other butts have been stubbed out in the same place and that tells us most of what we need to know.The directors have made a few changes that don't interfere with the narrative in any way -- bits of business in which one of the killers flicks a few tiny objects off the counter top with his fingertip, that sort of thing.The only jarring change is the virtual elimination of the role of Sam the black cook. It's too bad because this is in no way a funny story and Sam provides the few light-hearted moments.No sign of directorial self display. It opens with a POV shot and there are one or two other slight surprises but it's not a Fourth of July fireworks by any means. It's functionally presented.The English names of the characters is retained and on the café window we see that coffee costs "5 centes." I call it admirable fealty to the source, mistake and all.What must it have been like, living in a nation in which Ernest Hemingway's work wasn't allowed to be published until 1956? But never mind literature -- can you imagine American movies without ten versions of "Crime and Punishment"? I'm waiting for a Hollywood blockbuster called "The Master and Margarita" starring Jude Law and Angelina Jolie.

Ubiytsy (The Killers) is the first film by Andrei Tarkovsky, a Soviet director whose work I'm getting to know. The Killers is a students' short film which Tarkovsky directed with two other people. Tarkovsky's scenes at the diner are probably the best. Two gangsters come into a diner and order some food, then act menacingly towards the owner, customer and cook, telling them that they are there to kill a person they are expecting at a diner. Tension and suspense are present throughout, as what we clearly have here are two dangerous men, who are suspiciously cold even before they announce criminal intentions. As well, we have some innocent people, including the black cook who's called a racist slur.In a scene not directed by Tarkovsky, the customer goes to the home of the targeted person to warn him he's in danger. Oddly enough, the man seems uninterested, as if he has accepted his fate. Why he doesn't care and what he did to get into trouble in the first place are questions I would like to know, but the film ends after only twenty minutes. This is somewhat disappointing but still a good short film.

Although I did like the 1946 adaptation of the Killers, I wasn't sure how a Russian, let alone someone who is usually much more into the visual prowess of things like Andrei Tarkovsky, would tackle Ernest Hemingway's brief, pulpy story of men on a mission and a man in hiding from those men. Turns out it's one of the best short films I've seen from a soon-to-be world renown European auteur, because of it's emphasis on the simplicity of suspense, of human action in desperate circumstances and how it's filmed with a mix of the noir style and with Tarkovsky's dependence on figures in curiously exciting compositions. He isn't alone on the film, however, as the middle scene at the apartment was directed by friend Alexander Gordon, with Tarkovsky directing the bigger chunks at the diner, and another guy Marika Beiku co-directing overall. Since the apartment scene is so short though, and accounts for just three shots, one being most elaborate as it goes in and out, tight and wide, on the morose Swede in hiding and his friend at the diner filling him in on what happened, it's mostly Tarkovsky's game here.Part of the skill, and curiosity, in how tense the long first scene at the diner is that music is completely absent, with the only tone coming from Tarkovsky himself as a whistling customer. Meanwhile, Tarkovsky uses Hemingway's dialog in a very realistic manner, even when he goes deliberate angles, like when George goes into the back with the sandwiches and we see his feet in the same tilted frame as an empty can on the floor, or with the usage of the mirror on the wall. There's also the suddenness of seeing a machine gun that strikes things up in the room, and just the general attitude of Al and Max, the hit men, as they keep calling George "bright boy" in a way that reminds me of the curious double-talk in a self-consciously bad-ass movie like Pulp Fiction (not to mention the near casual usage of the 'N' bomb). While it ends sort of on a screeching halt, the sense of ambiguity as to the fate of the Swede as well as everyone else in the diner who hid the secret is worthwhile for the material, as it's perfectly anti-climactic. It's not entirely a simple experiment, as it's too polished for that, but I couldn't see how it could be made any longer either. It's perfectly paced and acted nearly as well, and it's a fitting pre-cursor to the un-prolific but remarkable career of one of Russia's most important filmmakers.