The Poet (2003) – Film Review

After killing artist Rick by mistake, his assassin, also known as the poet, real name Andrei Loesin, looks at his work and takes a fancy to Rick’s sister Paula. The meticulous and seemingly obsessive killer becomes fascinated with the artist’s work and attends one of his art exhibits. A relationship forms between Andrei and Paula but Detective Inspector Vashon is hot on the assassin’s heels as he investigates the murder.

The sets are often dark and gloomy, which in some films creates a sense of despair or fear. Here, however it is used magnificently to create a thoughtful and intelligent image and feel, something which is helped by the subtle soundtrack.

As the movie progresses Andrei becomes a warmer character marking a stark change from the character we are presented with at the beginning, a meticulous, intelligent and cold person whose home reflects his life, stark, empty and gloomy.

Andrei is brilliantly played by Dougray Scott. Scott shows his acting talents as a cold killer but also provides a degree of warmth as his relationship with Paula, played by the beautiful Laura Elena Harring, develops. Audiences tend to expect bad accents from the actors when a film is set in a European location but both actors display true talents by having convincing accents.

Poetically written and directed, the movie displays a sense of intelligence like a well versed poem or artwork. It is a strange combination mixing an artist’s death and his sister with the life of an assassin, but it works well. The artist’s work depicts death and despair, something that the assassin is used to, whereas the sister creates a warmth for them both. The use of atmospheric European locations helps the story.

An enjoyable film that is a lot more than an action-packed shooting film (which is what people could expect from a story about an assassin), The Poet also creates a picture of a cold, calculating, murderous animal. Something to watch if you are after something different to mainstream movies.