Елена (Elena) (2011)

Director: Andrey Zvyaginstev
Writers:  Andrey Zvyaginstev, Oleg Negin
Cast:       Nadezhda Markina, Andrey Smirnov, Elena Lyadova
Language: Russian

When a sudden illness and an unexpected reunion threaten dutiful housewife Elena's potential inheritance, she must hatch a desperate plan...

Vladimir is a rich widower whose estranged daughter is a hedonist. He lives in his plush home with his nurse/wife who was originally a nurse from the hospital where he had a surgery ten years back. The nature of their relationship is not made explicit till late into the film with her acting very much like his nurse but also engaging in casual sex with him. She has a good for nothing son whose family is dependent on her. Vladimir doesn't want to get involved with their affairs in a financial sense since he believes in responsible parenting despite how his own daughter turned out. He is portrayed as someone who lived for money leading to what looks like an unhappy retirement depending on one's point of view. When he suffers an unexpected heart-attack, his daughter (Elena Lyadova from Leviathan) kind of mend ways with him. While recovering at home, he informs Elena that he is planning to make a will where almost all his wealth will go to his daughter leaving only an annuity for her. This shakes her up leading her to use Viagra to create an induced heart-attack leading to his death. She kind of justifies herself by quoting Bible even though she doesn't wait for divine intervention. It can be classified as a stripped down noir film.

The basic story is very predictable but what makes the film different is the lack of sentimentality after the major event in it. Elena carries on without much remorse and there is no immediate consequences to her actions. Director does indeed make the case that whatever she is doing for her family is gonna be futile since money is not gonna make any meaningful difference to their lives in a good way. It is the age old morality concepts like 'Greed is not Good', 'Blood is thicker than water' and 'Being rich won't make you happy' that are being retold  without hammering our heads with it. Does it say anything about modern Russian society? I don't think anything in particular since it is anyway applicable everywhere irrespective of geography. Crows are used in a symbolic way to mean as a foreshadowing of bad things to come.

Philip Glass' music is sparingly used but with great effect like in Leviathan. Film was premiered at Cannes in the 'Un Certain Regard' where it won the special jury prize. Overall it is great watch without reaching the heights of his other works that I have seen: 'Leviathan' and 'The Return'. Got to say parenting is a running theme in his films.

Rating: 4/5

Возвращение (The Return) (2003)

Director: Andrey Zvyaginstev
Writers:  Vladimir Moiseenko, Aleksander Novototskiy-Vlasov
Cast:       Vladimir Garin, Ivan Dobronravov, Konstantin Lavronenko
Language: Russian

In the Russian wilderness, two brothers face a range of new, conflicting emotions when their father- a man they know only through a photograph- resurfaces. The three of them take a vacation to a remote island on a lake that turns into a test of manhood of almost mythic proportions. The older brother is kind of taken to his father whereas the younger one is suspicious and hostile with him which is not at all helped by his tactic of being a tough parent.

Film is tremendously intense from start to finish summed up by the hard running during the opening credits. The reason for the father's 12 year hiatus is not explicitly given but there is some shadiness to his activities. It is used primarily as a tool to misdirect the audience's thinking as to where the film is going. He is taking the kids to the remote island where he anyway needed to go as part of doing a job. Later on, it is shown him digging for something in the island and recovering a box which he does not open. We keep thinking that it is that which brings about the confrontation between them but it happens in a different manner. The boys also discover a boat wreckage near the island and those things might be related to each other. All these remain ambiguous throughout but are secondary to the film which primarily deals with the range of emotions going through all the three characters. The father is as tough on them as the younger brother is tough on him. You can find fault in both the parties as well as justification for how they behave. It is interesting that there is no blame game between the brothers after the unfortunate event. 

Film won Golden Lion at the Venice film festival and marked the directorial debut of Andrey Zvyaginstev, whose Levithan is the favorite for winning the academy award in the foreign film category this year. He is someone who uses background music sparingly but with maximum impact. The print of 'The Return' that I watched was really poor and I wish I got a better one since the cinematography and locations seem stunning. I don't know whether the dark greenish tint to it was because of the quality of print or intentional. The performances are excellent especially the younger brother Ivan, who reminded me of Haley Joel Osmont in 'The Sixth Sense'. The director described the four characters represent the four elements: 'earth is mother, water is father, the elder brother Andrey is air and the younger brother Ivan is the fire'. In the original script Andrey was supposed to die. The actor Vladimir Garin, who played Andrey, died shortly after the film  was completed in lake not far from where the film was shot.

Rating: 4.5/5

Левиафан (Leviathan) (2014 film)

Director: Andrey Zvyaginstev
Writers:  Andrey Zvyaginstev, Oleg Negin
Cast:       Aleksey Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova, Roman Madyanov
Language: Russian

In a Russian coastal town, Kolya is forced to fight the corrupt mayor when he is told that his house will be demolished. He recruits his old army friend who is now a Moscow lawyer to help, but the man's arrival brings further misfortune for Kolya and his family.

It is a modern retelling of Bible's 'Book of Job' which is used as premise for films numerous times prior to this. It is staggering to think that Russia's 'Ministry of Culture' actually funded this film when it actually deals with things that should be uncomfortable for Putin if you go by the Western media's portrayal of him. I can bet that it will win the academy award for 'Best Foreign Film', for which it has been shortlisted,  just for the fact that it will aid Western propaganda. Even without that it would deserve all the recognition that comes its way since it may well be my favorite film from 2014.

The word 'Leviathan' also originates from the old testament where it refers to a sea monster. In modern culture, it was used by Thomas Hobbes as the title for his work on the social contract and the origins of creation of an ideal state. From there it has been used to portray the power of government in a negative way indicating its tyranny. In the film it is used to indicate the authority of both the government and the church over people and all of this comes as subtext. By doing so the director keeps it ambiguous what he is attacking and whether he is attacking at all. One can say he is using the attack on religion to mask the attack on government. 

The arrival of lawyer gives some hope for Kolya initially but soon enough it leads to problems in his marriage because of his wife, Lilya, starting an affair with the lawyer. The initial problems he has with the authority is compounded by the problems in his personal life. The mayor is shown having talks with the powerful priest from the church and the priest tells the mayor that they both occupy similar positions in the society. As more and more problems are introduced into Kolya's life he has an encounter with a lowly but a pious priest who explains to him the story of Job with the conclusion that Job went on to live till he was 140 years old. To that Kolya dryly asks 'Is that a fairy-tale?'. Being an atheist, I can totally understand his question since it is nothing but a story to make people reverent to the authority/God. How the fuck can anyone get comfort from that story, I don't know. Film ends with a scene from church where the cunning priest gives a sermon on why people should take comfort from God in stead of striving for freedom. If anyone missed the subtext so far, that should make it clear.

The reason for death that happens in the film is kept deliberately ambiguous which is a good thing. Even though it is a plot-driven film, it happens in an understated fashion and the same can be said of the acting. Elena Lyadova, who plays the role of tragic figure Lilya is hauntingly beautiful in it. Cinematography and the locales are stunning as is the soundtrack which is sparsely used with good effect to indicate its grandeur. I haven't seen any other films from the director but his debut film 'The Return' is in my watch-list. I will expedite that on the strength of Leviathan. Leviathan won the 'Golden Peacock' at the International Film Festival of India last year.

Rating: 5/5