Leviathan (2014)
(Leviafan)
Country: RUS
Technical: col/2.35:1 140m
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Cast: Elena Lyadova, Aleksey Serebryakov, Roman Madyanov, Vladimir Vdovichenkov
Synopsis:
A man in the far-flung provinces secures the help of his lawyer brother to protect him against a compulsory purchase order on the part of the conniving local mayor. But he does not reckon either with the fragile attachment of his wife, or with the extent of local corruption.
Review:
Shades of Ibsen and Miller in this tragic tale of a man whose ideals (love for his wife, belief in justice) gradually succumb to human venality, violence and the atavistic lure of vodka. Shot in long, slow takes in which the camera sometimes moves only imperceptibly, the film is a remorselessly detailed portrait of a life taken apart by ineffectuality, on a personal and public level. Reflected through this depressing tale is a jaundiced view of the current state of Russia: public institutions shot through with the old habits of patronage and extortion, a citizenry that uses alcohol as water substitute, and a sense of adherence to the old religion which hangs by a thread, and is ultimately revealed to be part of the whole rotten picture anyway. Meanwhile, the skeleton of a beached whale lies on the shoreline, symbol of the greatness that was. Amazingly, the film was partly financed by the state, and submitted as candidate for best foreign film at the 2015 Academy Awards.
(Leviafan)
Country: RUS
Technical: col/2.35:1 140m
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Cast: Elena Lyadova, Aleksey Serebryakov, Roman Madyanov, Vladimir Vdovichenkov
Synopsis:
A man in the far-flung provinces secures the help of his lawyer brother to protect him against a compulsory purchase order on the part of the conniving local mayor. But he does not reckon either with the fragile attachment of his wife, or with the extent of local corruption.
Review:
Shades of Ibsen and Miller in this tragic tale of a man whose ideals (love for his wife, belief in justice) gradually succumb to human venality, violence and the atavistic lure of vodka. Shot in long, slow takes in which the camera sometimes moves only imperceptibly, the film is a remorselessly detailed portrait of a life taken apart by ineffectuality, on a personal and public level. Reflected through this depressing tale is a jaundiced view of the current state of Russia: public institutions shot through with the old habits of patronage and extortion, a citizenry that uses alcohol as water substitute, and a sense of adherence to the old religion which hangs by a thread, and is ultimately revealed to be part of the whole rotten picture anyway. Meanwhile, the skeleton of a beached whale lies on the shoreline, symbol of the greatness that was. Amazingly, the film was partly financed by the state, and submitted as candidate for best foreign film at the 2015 Academy Awards.
(Leviafan)
Country: RUS
Technical: col/2.35:1 140m
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Cast: Elena Lyadova, Aleksey Serebryakov, Roman Madyanov, Vladimir Vdovichenkov
Synopsis:
A man in the far-flung provinces secures the help of his lawyer brother to protect him against a compulsory purchase order on the part of the conniving local mayor. But he does not reckon either with the fragile attachment of his wife, or with the extent of local corruption.
Review:
Shades of Ibsen and Miller in this tragic tale of a man whose ideals (love for his wife, belief in justice) gradually succumb to human venality, violence and the atavistic lure of vodka. Shot in long, slow takes in which the camera sometimes moves only imperceptibly, the film is a remorselessly detailed portrait of a life taken apart by ineffectuality, on a personal and public level. Reflected through this depressing tale is a jaundiced view of the current state of Russia: public institutions shot through with the old habits of patronage and extortion, a citizenry that uses alcohol as water substitute, and a sense of adherence to the old religion which hangs by a thread, and is ultimately revealed to be part of the whole rotten picture anyway. Meanwhile, the skeleton of a beached whale lies on the shoreline, symbol of the greatness that was. Amazingly, the film was partly financed by the state, and submitted as candidate for best foreign film at the 2015 Academy Awards.