Le clan des gangsters

Assassins as well had a childhood, that's the moral groundwork for this Siberian Education, directed by the Italian Gabriele Salvatores (Mediterraneo); the story forcefully describes the early years of a future Russian mobster and soldier, growing up in a terrible town created by Stalin for criminal outcasts. The film is basically an engrossing duet between the young hero and his. Based on a much-translated book by Nicolai Lilin it stars John Malkovich, resembling a lot Marlon Brando after retrieving from the mafia and certainly being the strength of the film. It was shot in Latvia though set in the former Soviet Union (current Transinistria, part of Moldavia), a location managing to describe properly those years and those tower block estates in the most deprived and dangerous areas. Eleanor Tomlinson too is superb.

I have been on imdb for over 5 years and never felt the need of writing a review. However, Deadly Code has gotten bashed for all the wrong reasons and couldn't help myself writing this one as the authors deserve more credit for coming up with this gritty story. Folks, this movie is NOT set in Siberia. Gagarin and Kolyma are NOT real names, they are obviously nicknames. Please research before criticizing a movie. This has a solid script and very good character development. Malkovich performance is absolutely hypnotic and brilliantly stands out. Personally, I also found the photography and editing compelling. I would recommend this movie to anyone interested in a crime story but tired of the average Hollywood scripts.

Lots of thing will seem familiar in this one, including the sympathetic criminals with a strict moral code, the conflict between the brothers. There isn't much depth in the characters, the flashback scenes are just there for the sake of telling the story.

But there's one thing why should see this movie: everything is just so elaborately made in it. The sets, the cinematography, the dialogues show a huge amount of works. And Salvatore's directing can make even the most pretentious scenes effective. Among the actors, there's no difference between the young Litvanian ones and stars like Malkovich, they're all great. (The only thing that bothered me was the forced and unrealistic Russian accent.)

It's less about its characters and more about guilt and morals, but it's atmosphere makes you forget about all of the weaknesses. It's not really original, but the atmosphere makes it a unique film.

I wanted to watch this movie because I read the book on which it was loosely based - 'Siberian Education' by one Nikolai Lilin. It is a story of growing up in a criminal community of people that were deported from Siberia to Transistria, a small region in present day Moldova. Whether the story is true or not, it is actually a good read.

Then a read reviews of the movie on imdb and noticed that most critical reviews claim that it unfairly depicts Russia. To me it is like complaining that 'The Godfather' gives Italian Americans a bad name. 'Deadly Code' is not a documentary, even if it shows brief real-life footage to help place the story in time. I do not know if Siberians were ever 'relocated' to Moldova but it is not impossible - criminal societies in USSR / Russia existed and probably still do (thieves in law) and it did happen that the whole ethnic groups were being deported across the country in a short period of time, i.e. Tatars from Crimea to Uzbekistan in 1944.

The movie itself is not an instant classic but it is well made with some great photography, good acting and a story of friendship in interesting times. The pace is rather slow but there is no need to hurry. All in all, a movie worth watching.

**contains spoilers** I just came out of the cinema and believe this movie is a really good one! In all Salvatores' movies there is a common thread, this is the subject of friendship. This time it is dealt in a very though way. It is possibly about a friend demanding attention up to the extreme gesture of being killed by the hand of his only friend. the whole story is developed in a non linear way, with continuous jumps in their childhood, but the plot is always very understandable and the storytelling captivating. Didn't read the book, so cannot make judgements on how well the director translated it into a movie, but actors, images, music, all seems to me to be working pretty well. It contains violent scenes and may not be your best choice for a romantic date, but I believe it deserves a better rating than it has now.