gregking4 Review of The Stoker

The Stoker (2010)

intriguing but ultimately slight drama about murder and revenge

[6/10 · 9 June 2012]

An intriguing but ultimately slight drama about murder and revenge from Russian director Aleksey Balabanov (Morphia, etc). Ivan Skriabin (Mikhail Skryabin) is a former soldier and decorated war hero, and veteran of the campaign in Afghanistan. After suffering concussion following a bomb blast, he now ekes out an existence by working as a stoker, keeping the massive furnaces burning in a sprawling industrial complex. He is also writing a novel on a battered old typewriter. But local gangsters, working for a man known as Sergeant, also occasionally use the furnaces to dispose of bodies. Skriabin is a passive witness to their activities, until his own daughter Sasha becomes a victim and he seeks revenge on her killers. Balabanov gives us a glimpse into a darker underbelly of a contemporary St Petersberg, a venal and corrupt city where wealthy gangsters now wield power and where old soldiers are yesterday's heroes. The performances from the largely unknown cast are quite good, and theatre veteran Skryabin brings a touching and suitably haunted edge to his performance. Balabanov's script is sparse and peppered with touches of wry humour, and his signature violence is again unexpected and shocking. Balabanov's regular cinematographer Aleksandr Simonov captures some wonderful images of the snow covered city scape, while DiDiuLia's jaunty music score offers a counterpoint to the violence that follows.