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.
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.