I can never really know why if he was a cop prior, why he would want to take over the whole syndicate, unless he was a mobster turned informant, then I can understand why because like he says, he wants to be king.
Similar to how Whitey Bulger was able to survive and live, and take control of his territories by working undercover with the FBI giving them intel..
You know Nikolai is a cop. What you don't know is what he wants, or exactly who he is or has become. That's all right; Nikolai doesn't know, either. See his last scene and read his face.
And listen to the voice-over.
Couldn't have said it any better.
Straightedge means I'm better than you.
He was a cop who has been undercover so long (long enough to be in a gulag getting authentic mobster tattoos) that it is starting to kill him body and soul.
Up until this point, he has been extremely ambitious but meeting Anna, falling in love with her, has shown what he has been missing.
The last scene shows that even though he has gotten what he wanted (the ability to bring down the mob in London), he would really like to be a husband to Anna and a father to her child.
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He was in love with her.
She was what he gave up in order to gain more power.
"He was in love with her".
So I`m just going to have to take your word for it?
Because I sure didn`t see any definitive signs that this was the case; his thoughts and feelings concerning her were no less difficult to read than in regards to his career.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
The kiss at the end wasn't enough? Nor the last dream like sequence of the Laura Ashley heaven of family life?
He's not a cop. He's a spy working for the FSB (successor of KGB). His job isn't to apprehend the criminals. It just so happens that his mission requires him to infiltrate the Vors.
We can't know for sure if his objective is to bring down the mob or just to remain hidden in the mob to provide information to Moscow.
That could be true too.
But the film was made as a counterpoint to A History of Violence. So it is more than likely that Nik is a good guy.
So it is more than likely that Nik is a good guy.
No doubt he was hardcore. He did real time in a prison to get those tattoos.
Since tattoo culture has fallen out of favor, Nik probably received those tattoos in the 80's/90's when he was in his 20's. I've read that these tattoos can't be faked because there were only so many tattoo artists and their work was well known. Hence the reason they examined the tattoos in the film. They were checking for fakes.
Do the new russian criminals still get those prison tatts? Or is it an old generational thing?
I Came, I Saw, I Conquered.
From the accounts of what I have read (the little that is in English) the tattoos have fallen out of favor. They are too obvious and cause a lot of unneeded attention.
The reason why Tattoos were so popular during the Soviet era was because it was a form of protest on the part of the Vors.
Interesting, I heard that as well.
I heard only a small minority in the russian criminal system actually practice that nowadays.
I Came, I Saw, I Conquered.
David Cronenberg said they were out of style before he made the film. He just loved the idea of writing one's history on one's body -- particularly when the writing might or might not be lies. Since he wasn't interested in a documentary or a film about the Russian mob per se, he didn't care about a slight anachronicity.
He also blamed Viggo Mortensen for the idea of emphasizing the tattoos theme. VM has a friend, thanked in the credits, who produced a film about the prison tattooing system (she actually filmed in prisons, which was a pretty gutsy thing for a woman to do). The script was done when he sent DC the material, along with a book, and they had a major rewrite. DC said it really enhanced the film.
The Vors take the tattoos very seriously.
A criminal can be killed or maimed if their tattoos are fakes. Its very easy to check the authenticity.
Viggo probably took Alix Lambert's book into account since she is still alive. However she wasn't all that original and took everything from the absolute authority, Danzig Baldaev. Baldaev documented the tattoo culture in its Soviet heyday. He passed away in 2005.
I don't kow about her book, but Alix lambert shot a film in various prisons. I've seen the film.
shareThe book is a companion to the film.
But if you want an in depth view of the tattoos and an explanation of their codes, read the Baldaev books.
I've read one of them. I now know as much as I want to know. But I thought AL's film had more impact; it put the tattoos in a context for me.
And whatever the source, I thought the use of them was very powerful. And so -- if I may use the adjective that amuses him a lot -- Cronenbergian.
Or you could always watched the marked docu on youtube.
I Came, I Saw, I Conquered.
in real life spy's are not trained that much different than normal cops in fact they really don't have super elite training.
sharehis actual goal was not to destroy the mob in london his goals were to take over the mob. at the end of the movie his is now the new boss
share"If there had been a sequel he would still have kept his cover been true to his job".
And this you know... how?
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
I think he's definitely a cop. But he's a cop who's probably given a good portion of his life to getting into this thing, as he already has all the tattoos and probably spent the time getting a good enough cover to get in with these guys.
So if they just end his operation, what does he really do? He can't go pretend to be part of another gang, since his tattoos would give away that he was part of the Vory Zakone thing. Also, he clearly is geared towards the life to begin with. Maybe he has some deep-seated reason to want to make them crumble. And though they did just take down Symeon, there's probably a lot of other fish to fry, and what better way to get them than by having such a prominent figure actually be a cop.
_____________________________________________________________
Live and learn. At least we lived.
He is most definitely a cop, one who has been undercover his entire life. I recently read an interview with screenwriter Steven Knight in which he discusses the basic story of his script for the sequel. He said that it entails Nikolai going back to Russia and reporting to his bosses that he has done everything they asked of him, that his job is finally finished. To which they reply, "No, there is still one more thing to do."
Knight explained that the character is very much a patriot whose entire life has been devoted to serving and protecting his homeland, a uniquely Russian sense of duty that Westerners will probably never understand. Nikolai mentions during his interrogation by the London bosses that his father was a minor government official, so it could be from him that the character learned his fierce love for his country.
Anyway, who knows if the sequel will ever be made at this point--it's been seven years and Cronenberg seems to have completely lost interest in it. Perhaps Knight, who is a fine director is his own right, will be able to make it.
"Beethoven had his critics too, Keith. See if you can name three of 'em."
"a uniquely Russian sense of duty that Westerners will probably never understand."
NO, You are wrong.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
Thomas Jefferson
The problems in all countries at the root are caused by people who call themselves Royals or think they are royalty. The aggrandize power to themselves and because they hoard, they cause inequalities and criminality in the social system. The Elites are very much the cause of organized crime.
They don't belong to one country. They think of themselves outside the power of any country. They are their own sovereignty.
In the past France and Russia sought to free themselves from these people by mass execution of royals. We in America thought an ocean would protect us. If you don't pull weeds out stem and roots, they regrow.
You cant compare American pariots with Russians. Americans are not even there. They haven been fighting for their rights as Russians have.
shareHe's an undercover FSB operative (like an FBI undercover, think Donnie Brasco).
No intelligence service would take an informant (crook gone rat) and make him an actual member. So since he's actually FSB it means he's an undercover operative, not a crook turned informant.
Which means:
- He's been undercover for years/decades (those tats can't be faked so easily, at least some have to be real, meaning he did real time in some of those prisons).
- He's corrupted beyond all redemption (patriotism and duty aside, why would any man agree to giving up his life for a JOB unless that's what got him ticking?), and since his mission is to take over the organization (not bring it down), his bosses want the organization kicking, just serving the FSB's interests. Meaning the government is just as evil, it's basically a competing criminal organization. That's why he doesn't even pause to consider quitting to live a normal life with Ana (who's clearly available and willing), it's simply way too late for that.
So he's a government sponsored gangster/kingpin basically, somewhat like Whitey Bulger was in USA (however he was a career criminal turned informant, not cop turned kingpin).
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