The Marrakech International Film Festival has unveiled the 10 cinema figures who will participate in its In Conversation With program at its 20th edition running from November 24 to December 2.
They comprise Australian actor Simon Baker, French director Bertrand Bonello, U.S. actor Willem Dafoe, Indian filmmaker and producer Anurag Kashyap; Japanese director Naomi Kawase; Danish-u.S. actor and director Viggo Mortensen; U.K. actor Tilda Swinton; and Russian director and screenwriter Andrey Zvyagintsev.
Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen and Moroccan director Faouzi Bensaïdi, who will receive the festival’s honorary Étoile d’or prize this year, will also participate in the program.
Baker’s was seen most recently in Toronto title Limbo and Tribeca 2022 selection Blaze, with early features including L.A. Confidential (1997), David Frankel’s The Devil Wears Prada (2006), and J. C. Chandor’s Margin Call (2011), followed by hit series The Mentalist (2008–2015).
Bensaïdi’s first feature A Thousand Months world premiered...
They comprise Australian actor Simon Baker, French director Bertrand Bonello, U.S. actor Willem Dafoe, Indian filmmaker and producer Anurag Kashyap; Japanese director Naomi Kawase; Danish-u.S. actor and director Viggo Mortensen; U.K. actor Tilda Swinton; and Russian director and screenwriter Andrey Zvyagintsev.
Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen and Moroccan director Faouzi Bensaïdi, who will receive the festival’s honorary Étoile d’or prize this year, will also participate in the program.
Baker’s was seen most recently in Toronto title Limbo and Tribeca 2022 selection Blaze, with early features including L.A. Confidential (1997), David Frankel’s The Devil Wears Prada (2006), and J. C. Chandor’s Margin Call (2011), followed by hit series The Mentalist (2008–2015).
Bensaïdi’s first feature A Thousand Months world premiered...
- 11/7/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
We're back with a new installment of Horror Highlights! In today's edition, we trailers for Coma, Shifter, Fear Pharm, and Sputnik:
Watch the Trailer for Coma: "After a tragic accident, a young architect wakes up in a dystopian world: Coma. Here, reality is made from the memories of people who have fallen into a comatose state. Cities, rivers and the sky all flow in and out of each other -fragmented and unstable just like our memories. The common laws of physics don't exist and nightmarish reapers roam the land spreading death. Having lost most of his own memory, the architect must develop new skills to survive and adapt to the chaos around him. On his search for a way back to reality, he joins a rogue group of fighters and discovers a secret that will affect their lives forever.
Written by: Nikita Argunov, Aleksei Grawitski, and Timofei Dekin...
Watch the Trailer for Coma: "After a tragic accident, a young architect wakes up in a dystopian world: Coma. Here, reality is made from the memories of people who have fallen into a comatose state. Cities, rivers and the sky all flow in and out of each other -fragmented and unstable just like our memories. The common laws of physics don't exist and nightmarish reapers roam the land spreading death. Having lost most of his own memory, the architect must develop new skills to survive and adapt to the chaos around him. On his search for a way back to reality, he joins a rogue group of fighters and discovers a secret that will affect their lives forever.
Written by: Nikita Argunov, Aleksei Grawitski, and Timofei Dekin...
- 7/22/2020
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
"Is this my life now?" Dark Sky Films has debuted an official US trailer for the radical Russian sci-fi action thriller Coma, also known as Koma or The Coma. The film marks the feature directorial debut of a visual effects supervisor, which is why there are tons of crazy cool VFX shots in this. We posted this teaser a few months ago, but there's a full trailer now for its US release next month. After a mysterious accident a young architect comes back to his senses in a very odd world. He must find out the exact laws and regulations of it as he fights for his life and keeps on looking for the exit to the real world. Starring Rinal Mukhametov, Lyubov Aksyonova, Anton Pampushnyy, Milos Bikovic, and Konstantin Lavronenko. Looks even more like a video game movie, the CGI is a bit too glossy, but I still must admit I love these visuals.
- 7/17/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
"This world is made up of memories." What is this?! A trippy teaser trailer has debuted for a Russian sci-fi action thriller titled Coma, also known as Koma or The Coma. The film marks the feature directorial debut of a visual effects supervisor, which is why there are tons of crazy cool VFX shots in this. After a mysterious accident a young architect comes back to his senses in a very odd world. He must find out the exact laws and regulations of it as he fights for his life and keeps on looking for the exit to the real world. Starring Rinal Mukhametov, Lyubov Aksyonova, Anton Pampushnyy, Milos Bikovic, Konstantin Lavronenko. I love all the twisted, blended worlds and the way everything is frozen in mid-air. This is my kind of visually stunning sci-fi! Even if it looks a bit derivative, I can't help but say I'm more than sold.
- 5/20/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
"Someone or something is plunging humanity into darkness..." Shout Studios has released an official trailer for a Russian sci-fi action thriller titled The Blackout: Invasion Earth, an extension of the original title The Blackout. So what's going on in this? Contact between most towns on Earth has been severed. A small ring-like area in Eastern Europe still has electricity, and maybe even life is being reported from space. What military forces find outside "the Ring" is shocking. There are dead everywhere: in stores, in cars, on roads, in hospitals and railway stations. Who or what is destroying all life on Earth? How long will the last outpost of mankind survive? Watch to find out! Starring Pyotr Fyodorov, Aleksey Chadov, Svetlana Ivanova, Konstantin Lavronenko, Lukerya Ilyashenko, and Kseniya Kutepova. Visually, this looks very cool (nice Blade Runner nod hanging off the building). But I'm not really sure what the heck is going on.
- 5/4/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
While it may not have been on the shelf for over a decade, The Banishment is not only the second feature film from director Andrey Zvyaginstev, but it is now, 11 years after its initial debut, finally arriving in theaters stateside.
Yes, you’ve read that correctly. Arguably today’s greatest Russian filmmaker, Zvyaginstev is the subject of a new mid-career retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and as part of that series (running January 12-24), MoMA will be giving the director’s sophomore effort its premiere Us theatrical run, a full decade-plus after its 2007 bow. A dense, expertly crafted feature, this nearly three-hour long familial epic followed Zvyaginstev’s debut The Return, and helped launch the filmmaker into a stratosphere finding him getting comparisons to names like Tarkovsky.
The Banishment is a polarizing motion picture, a master class in the modern art of “slow cinema” (whatever that...
Yes, you’ve read that correctly. Arguably today’s greatest Russian filmmaker, Zvyaginstev is the subject of a new mid-career retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and as part of that series (running January 12-24), MoMA will be giving the director’s sophomore effort its premiere Us theatrical run, a full decade-plus after its 2007 bow. A dense, expertly crafted feature, this nearly three-hour long familial epic followed Zvyaginstev’s debut The Return, and helped launch the filmmaker into a stratosphere finding him getting comparisons to names like Tarkovsky.
The Banishment is a polarizing motion picture, a master class in the modern art of “slow cinema” (whatever that...
- 1/12/2018
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Exclusive: Us outfit is touting thriller Spacewalk and romance About Love.
Lexica Films, the foreign language label that Covert Media launched late last year, will be in Cannes tempting buyers on Russian titles Spacewalk and About Love.
Genre master Timur Bekmambetov produced Spacewalk, Bazelevs’ adventure thriller about the Cold War space race that is nearing $10m in Russia since it opened in April through Fox.
Dmitry Kiselyov directed the film, which screens in the market and centres on a hot-headed test pilot and a war veteran who must work together to complete the first the first spacewalk mission above earth.
Konstantin Khabenski and Evgeny Mironov star and Yuri Korotkov co-wrote the screenplay with Sergey Kaluzhanov, Irina Pivovarova, Dmitry Pinchukov, and Oleg Pogodin. Mironov also produces.
“Spacewalk is a project that is dear to my heart,” Bekmambetov said. “When we were shooting it, we worked closely with Alexey Leonov, the Soviet astronaut who was the first to walk...
Lexica Films, the foreign language label that Covert Media launched late last year, will be in Cannes tempting buyers on Russian titles Spacewalk and About Love.
Genre master Timur Bekmambetov produced Spacewalk, Bazelevs’ adventure thriller about the Cold War space race that is nearing $10m in Russia since it opened in April through Fox.
Dmitry Kiselyov directed the film, which screens in the market and centres on a hot-headed test pilot and a war veteran who must work together to complete the first the first spacewalk mission above earth.
Konstantin Khabenski and Evgeny Mironov star and Yuri Korotkov co-wrote the screenplay with Sergey Kaluzhanov, Irina Pivovarova, Dmitry Pinchukov, and Oleg Pogodin. Mironov also produces.
“Spacewalk is a project that is dear to my heart,” Bekmambetov said. “When we were shooting it, we worked closely with Alexey Leonov, the Soviet astronaut who was the first to walk...
- 5/18/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: The veteran executive will head to Toronto next week with the Covert team in his new role as senior vice-president of international sales.
Harvey reports to president of international Liz Kim Schwan and will handle Covert’s production slate and lead sales on the newly launched Lexica Films label.
“Covert have established themselves as one of the go-to places for star-driven material,” said Harvey. “I’m very impressed by their slate of films and I look forward to working with Liz and Paul [Hanson, CEO] and the entire Covert team.”
“I’m thrilled to have such a well loved executive like Jim on board,” said Kim Schwan. “Jim’s experience and knowledge make him a critical member of our growing team as we expand our slate.”
Lexica launched last week with disaster title Earthquake starring Cannes 2007 best actor winner Konstantin Lavronenko and the team has boarded sales on a second title.
Russian-language fantasy...
Harvey reports to president of international Liz Kim Schwan and will handle Covert’s production slate and lead sales on the newly launched Lexica Films label.
“Covert have established themselves as one of the go-to places for star-driven material,” said Harvey. “I’m very impressed by their slate of films and I look forward to working with Liz and Paul [Hanson, CEO] and the entire Covert team.”
“I’m thrilled to have such a well loved executive like Jim on board,” said Kim Schwan. “Jim’s experience and knowledge make him a critical member of our growing team as we expand our slate.”
Lexica launched last week with disaster title Earthquake starring Cannes 2007 best actor winner Konstantin Lavronenko and the team has boarded sales on a second title.
Russian-language fantasy...
- 8/31/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Independent production, financing and distribution company Covert Media has formed international sales label Lexica Films and plans to launch five to 10 films per year through it. Covert's President of International, Liz Kim Schwan, will lead the new division. The first title will be the Russian-language disaster film Earthquake, which stars Cannes Best Actor winner Konstantin Lavronenko (The Banishment, Name Me) and is directed by Sarik Andreasyan (American Heist). The…...
- 8/26/2016
- Deadline
Exclusive: Paul Hanson’s production, financing and distribution outfit has launched an international sales label in the run-up to the Toronto International Film Festival.
Covert’s president of international Liz Kim Schwan will lead the division and kick off with sales on Earthquake, the drama about the 1988 Spitak natural disaster that is viewed as a potential candidate as Armenia’s Oscar foreign-language submission.
Sarik Andreasyan directed the film, which stars Konstantin Lavronenko, a Cannes best actor winner in 2007 for The Banishment.
Earthquake is a fictional account of the event that destroyed more than 300 towns across Armenia and displaced more than half a million people.
Set in Leninakan, Armenia, the story interweaves the stories of a 50-year-old Russian and a 28-year-old Armenian who work together to rescue survivors.
Covert will handle North America and all international sales excluding Russia, where Caro Premier Film Company has scheduled a December 1 release in 1,000 theatres under original title Zemletryasenie.
French and Chinese...
Covert’s president of international Liz Kim Schwan will lead the division and kick off with sales on Earthquake, the drama about the 1988 Spitak natural disaster that is viewed as a potential candidate as Armenia’s Oscar foreign-language submission.
Sarik Andreasyan directed the film, which stars Konstantin Lavronenko, a Cannes best actor winner in 2007 for The Banishment.
Earthquake is a fictional account of the event that destroyed more than 300 towns across Armenia and displaced more than half a million people.
Set in Leninakan, Armenia, the story interweaves the stories of a 50-year-old Russian and a 28-year-old Armenian who work together to rescue survivors.
Covert will handle North America and all international sales excluding Russia, where Caro Premier Film Company has scheduled a December 1 release in 1,000 theatres under original title Zemletryasenie.
French and Chinese...
- 8/25/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
On the Waterfront: Zvyagintsev’s Sprawling Opus of a Modern, Devouring Regime
Back with his fourth feature, Leviathan, Russian auteur Andrey Zvyagintsev succeeds in cinematic sublimity with this multilayered and operatic exploration of the crushing corruption of an unchecked regime. While each of his films have taken home prestigious awards (The Return won the Golden Lion at Venice in 2003, The Banishment snagged Best Actor at Cannes in 2007 while 2011’s Elena roped the Special Jury Prize for Un Certain Regard), this latest feature should solidify his unparalleled ascension as the most important auteur to rise out of Russia since Andrey Tarkovsky. Time may prove his to be the more potent title, a damning examination of the turpitude bred by an archaic and untoward establishment.
Living in the home that he’s built with his own hands on the waterfront of the Barents Sea, Kolya (Alexei Serebryakov), has recently been notified...
Back with his fourth feature, Leviathan, Russian auteur Andrey Zvyagintsev succeeds in cinematic sublimity with this multilayered and operatic exploration of the crushing corruption of an unchecked regime. While each of his films have taken home prestigious awards (The Return won the Golden Lion at Venice in 2003, The Banishment snagged Best Actor at Cannes in 2007 while 2011’s Elena roped the Special Jury Prize for Un Certain Regard), this latest feature should solidify his unparalleled ascension as the most important auteur to rise out of Russia since Andrey Tarkovsky. Time may prove his to be the more potent title, a damning examination of the turpitude bred by an archaic and untoward establishment.
Living in the home that he’s built with his own hands on the waterfront of the Barents Sea, Kolya (Alexei Serebryakov), has recently been notified...
- 12/22/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
New Riga Meetings platform welcomes projects including two projects by Finnish film-maker Aku Louhimies.
Janis Nords’ second feature Mother I Love You and Juris Kursietis’ debut Modris were the big winners at the ¨Great Christopher¨ (¨Lielais Kristaps¨) National Film Competition held during the first edition of the Riga International Film Festival (December 2-12).
Nords, who graduated in film directing from the UK’s Nfts, received the top honour of best film as well as the trophy for best feature film director and best actress (for Vita Varpina’s performance as the single mother trying to make ends meet).
On presenting the direction prize to Nords, the competition jury’s chairman, veteran film director Janis Streics, said that he saw “a bright future ahead for Latvian cinema” on the strength of the line-up for this edition of the national film awards.
Mother I Love You, which is handled internationally by New Europe Film Sales, premiered at the...
Janis Nords’ second feature Mother I Love You and Juris Kursietis’ debut Modris were the big winners at the ¨Great Christopher¨ (¨Lielais Kristaps¨) National Film Competition held during the first edition of the Riga International Film Festival (December 2-12).
Nords, who graduated in film directing from the UK’s Nfts, received the top honour of best film as well as the trophy for best feature film director and best actress (for Vita Varpina’s performance as the single mother trying to make ends meet).
On presenting the direction prize to Nords, the competition jury’s chairman, veteran film director Janis Streics, said that he saw “a bright future ahead for Latvian cinema” on the strength of the line-up for this edition of the national film awards.
Mother I Love You, which is handled internationally by New Europe Film Sales, premiered at the...
- 12/12/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Retrieved from Exile: Zvyagintsev’s Dismissed Sophomore Effort a Neglected Masterpiece
Newly minted Russian auteur Andrei Zvyagintsev’s second feature, 2007’s maligned The Banishment, has been resurrected for the 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival’s “Films that Got Away” program, and it also happens to be one of the most astonishing entries to play in the entire fest. Famously premiering at Cannes to mixed response (though it snagged Best Actor), it’s dismissal was remarkable, especially considering this was his follow-up to his much hailed 2003 debut, The Return. It only played at a handful of other festivals of note but never was released theatrically in the Us. Now, after redeeming himself in the global critical arena with his latest offering, Elena, perhaps we have the opportunity to revisit his dismissed second outing, a neglected effort that, as the tests of time will prove, should amass the critical jubilation it deserves as a masterful,...
Newly minted Russian auteur Andrei Zvyagintsev’s second feature, 2007’s maligned The Banishment, has been resurrected for the 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival’s “Films that Got Away” program, and it also happens to be one of the most astonishing entries to play in the entire fest. Famously premiering at Cannes to mixed response (though it snagged Best Actor), it’s dismissal was remarkable, especially considering this was his follow-up to his much hailed 2003 debut, The Return. It only played at a handful of other festivals of note but never was released theatrically in the Us. Now, after redeeming himself in the global critical arena with his latest offering, Elena, perhaps we have the opportunity to revisit his dismissed second outing, a neglected effort that, as the tests of time will prove, should amass the critical jubilation it deserves as a masterful,...
- 7/3/2012
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Andrei Zvyagintsev is one of the most interesting among active filmmakers today. He has only made three feature films. Each of those three films is built, to put it in literary terms, on the scale of a novella rather than an epic novel. Each film delves with aspects of family bonding—or at least that provides the least common factor for the tales, only to multiply and enlarge on aspects of an individual’s life beyond the family, subjects often relating to psychology, politics, sociology and religion. And that is what makes any Zvyagintsev film interesting—its universality and its inward looking questions, all open ended for the viewer to ponder over after the movie gets over. And Elena is true to that spirit.
Famous Russian novels (later made into films) often had for their titles mere names—Anna Karenina or Dr Zhivago. But those novels went beyond those ordinary names.
Famous Russian novels (later made into films) often had for their titles mere names—Anna Karenina or Dr Zhivago. But those novels went beyond those ordinary names.
- 2/1/2012
- by Jugu Abraham
- DearCinema.com
Andrey Zvyagintsev's wonderful debut feature opens with a simple childhood test. A group of boys stand atop a look-out tower on stone pier against a drab Russian sky. Each one jumps, terrified, into the icy water below. The two boys left are brothers Ivan (Ivan Dobronravov) and Andrei (Vladimir Garin) and when the older finally jumps, leaving Ivan on the tower in the shivering cold, it's only his mother who eventually comes to his rescue as the night draws in. It's simplistic scene beautifully shot and outlays the rest of the film effortlessly. The way the young brothers push each other in the early parts of the film makes way for the titular return of the boy's father after a 12 year absence and the planned fishing trip which will reconnect them. The spare setting and their mother's odd complacency about the mysterious reappearance set a tense and disturbing tone and...
- 4/7/2010
- by Neil Innes
- t5m.com
Andrey Zvyagintsev's wonderful debut feature opens with a simple childhood test. A group of boys stand atop a look-out tower on stone pier against a drab Russian sky. Each one jumps, terrified, into the icy water below. The two boys left are brothers Ivan (Ivan Dobronravov) and Andrei (Vladimir Garin) and when the older finally jumps, leaving Ivan on the tower in the shivering cold, it's only his mother who eventually comes to his rescue as the night draws in. It's simplistic scene beautifully shot and outlays the rest of the film effortlessly. The way the young brothers push each other in the early parts of the film makes way for the titular return of the boy's father after a 12 year absence and the planned fishing trip which will reconnect them. The spare setting and their mother's odd complacency about the mysterious reappearance set a tense and disturbing tone and...
- 4/7/2010
- by Neil Innes
- t5m.com
CANNES -- After 12 days, 22 films and 60 years of the Festival de Cannes, Stephen Frears' jury reached its verdict Sunday night, bestowing the coveted Palme d'Or to Cristian Mungiu's 4 Luni, 3 Saptamini Si 2 Zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days).
The honor proved that all roads lead to Romanian cinema after Cristian Nemescu's California Dreamin' won the Un Certain Regard prize one day earlier.
Wild Bunch is handling international sales for Months and has already sold the film to IFC in the U.S., the U.K.'s Artifical Eye and Italy's Lucky Red.
The second place Grand Prix went to Japanese underdog Mogari No Mori (The Mourning Forest), directed by Naomi Kawase, about an old man and a caretaker at his retirement home struggling to overcome the death of their loved ones.
Julian Schnabel was named best director for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and Turkey's German-born Fatih Akin won the best screenplay award for The Edge of Heaven.
Jeon Do-yeon's portrayal of a mother dealing with tragedy earned her the best actress prize for Lee Chang-dong's Secret Sunshine, and Konstantin Lavronenko took home the best actor award for his role in Andrei Zviaguintsev's Russian entry The Banishment.
The Jury prize was split between Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's Persepolis, a black-and-white animated adaptation of her popular comic book about growing up during the Iranian Revolution, and Stellet Licht, Carlos Reygadas' tale of forbidden love among Mennonite farmers.
The honor proved that all roads lead to Romanian cinema after Cristian Nemescu's California Dreamin' won the Un Certain Regard prize one day earlier.
Wild Bunch is handling international sales for Months and has already sold the film to IFC in the U.S., the U.K.'s Artifical Eye and Italy's Lucky Red.
The second place Grand Prix went to Japanese underdog Mogari No Mori (The Mourning Forest), directed by Naomi Kawase, about an old man and a caretaker at his retirement home struggling to overcome the death of their loved ones.
Julian Schnabel was named best director for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and Turkey's German-born Fatih Akin won the best screenplay award for The Edge of Heaven.
Jeon Do-yeon's portrayal of a mother dealing with tragedy earned her the best actress prize for Lee Chang-dong's Secret Sunshine, and Konstantin Lavronenko took home the best actor award for his role in Andrei Zviaguintsev's Russian entry The Banishment.
The Jury prize was split between Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's Persepolis, a black-and-white animated adaptation of her popular comic book about growing up during the Iranian Revolution, and Stellet Licht, Carlos Reygadas' tale of forbidden love among Mennonite farmers.
- 5/28/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- Judging by this year’s winners of the Grand Prix in the Un Certain regard section and the Palme d’Or in the main comp, it looks like the emerging Romanian cinema has a healthier chance of breaking out onto the international scene. Cristian Mungiu's 4 months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days won the top prize at Cannes, while California dreamin' (Nesfarsit) whose director Cristian Nemescu who died during post-production won the Un Certain Regard crown.Us folks at Ioncinema.com are extremely happy with the diverse mix of titles that received awards in Cannes this past Sunday night – it proves that great cinema can come from smaller film nations and art house theatres can still count on diversity no matter what language is spoken and regardless if the film holds popular names/stars. Both films flew extremely low on my radar before I came down to the festival, but even
- 5/27/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
CANNES -- "The Banishment" (Izgnanie) starts off like a thriller with a car roaring into the city and a clandestine surgery by a man to remove a bullet in his brother's arm. Then, ever so slowly, the movie falls into the clutches of long, solemn stares into space, meaningful drags on cigarettes, cryptic dialogue revealing little and a tiny drama that feels old, tired and empty of real purpose.
In other words, Art House Pretension without apology or concern. Director/co-writer Andrei Zvyagintsev has told every journalist who asked he intends to avoid the sophomore jinx that follows a very successful first film. (His "The Return" won Venice and four other festivals in 2003.) He has failed. The only route for "Banishment", which screened In Competition, is banishment to the festival circuit. Commercial prospects are zilch.
Zvyagintsev has taken a story by Armenian-American writer William Saroyan, "The Laughing Matter", and stripped it of any specific nationality, locale, time period or indication of culture other than the obvious fact these are white Europeans at some point in the late 20th century before cell phones and laptops (which leaves you wondering things such as why an abortion must be done in such secret).
Alex (Konstantin Lavronenko), the man who extricated the bullet from the arm of his brother (Alexander Baluev), takes his family to their country home. Cue shots of the glorious rustic life. That night his wife, Vera Maria Bonnevie), informs him that she is pregnant but the baby isn't his. He sulks, disappears for a night, wanders back through the trees, hits his wife, consults his brother, then finally demands that Vera have an abortion. If he had just said so in the first place, this would have shaved 45 minutes off the running time.
The abortion goes badly -- the music cues alone warn you this will happen -- the brother has a heart attack and eventually Alex confronts Robert (Dmitry Ulianov), the man he believes seduced his wife. Without giving away any of the movie's "surprises," it all boils down to his wife was unhappy in the marriage. That's it. Apparently, this unnamed country with strict abortion laws also doesn't allow divorce lawyers either.
The acting by the adults is stiff and unnatural. Only the child actors get to play human beings. Cinematography and design are strong elements here as those departments achieve striking images of rural life -- so much so that at times you wish the actors weren't blocking the nice views.
THE BANISHMENT
Ren Film & Intercinema
Credits:
Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev
Screenwriters: Oleg Negin, Andrei Zvyaguntsev, Artem Melkumjan
Based on a story by: William Saroyan
Producers: Dmitri Lesnevsky
Executive producer: Elena Loginova
Director of photography: Mikhail Krichman
Production designer: Andrey Ponkratov
Music: Andrey Dergachev, Arvo Part
Costume designer: Anna Barthuly
Editor: Anna Mass
Cast: Alex: Konstantin Lavronenko
Vera: Maria Bonnevie
Mark: Alexander Baluev
Kir: Maxim Shibaev
Eva: Katya Kulkina
Robert: Dmitry Ulianov
Max: Alexey Vertkov
Running time -- 159 minutes
No MPAA rating...
In other words, Art House Pretension without apology or concern. Director/co-writer Andrei Zvyagintsev has told every journalist who asked he intends to avoid the sophomore jinx that follows a very successful first film. (His "The Return" won Venice and four other festivals in 2003.) He has failed. The only route for "Banishment", which screened In Competition, is banishment to the festival circuit. Commercial prospects are zilch.
Zvyagintsev has taken a story by Armenian-American writer William Saroyan, "The Laughing Matter", and stripped it of any specific nationality, locale, time period or indication of culture other than the obvious fact these are white Europeans at some point in the late 20th century before cell phones and laptops (which leaves you wondering things such as why an abortion must be done in such secret).
Alex (Konstantin Lavronenko), the man who extricated the bullet from the arm of his brother (Alexander Baluev), takes his family to their country home. Cue shots of the glorious rustic life. That night his wife, Vera Maria Bonnevie), informs him that she is pregnant but the baby isn't his. He sulks, disappears for a night, wanders back through the trees, hits his wife, consults his brother, then finally demands that Vera have an abortion. If he had just said so in the first place, this would have shaved 45 minutes off the running time.
The abortion goes badly -- the music cues alone warn you this will happen -- the brother has a heart attack and eventually Alex confronts Robert (Dmitry Ulianov), the man he believes seduced his wife. Without giving away any of the movie's "surprises," it all boils down to his wife was unhappy in the marriage. That's it. Apparently, this unnamed country with strict abortion laws also doesn't allow divorce lawyers either.
The acting by the adults is stiff and unnatural. Only the child actors get to play human beings. Cinematography and design are strong elements here as those departments achieve striking images of rural life -- so much so that at times you wish the actors weren't blocking the nice views.
THE BANISHMENT
Ren Film & Intercinema
Credits:
Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev
Screenwriters: Oleg Negin, Andrei Zvyaguntsev, Artem Melkumjan
Based on a story by: William Saroyan
Producers: Dmitri Lesnevsky
Executive producer: Elena Loginova
Director of photography: Mikhail Krichman
Production designer: Andrey Ponkratov
Music: Andrey Dergachev, Arvo Part
Costume designer: Anna Barthuly
Editor: Anna Mass
Cast: Alex: Konstantin Lavronenko
Vera: Maria Bonnevie
Mark: Alexander Baluev
Kir: Maxim Shibaev
Eva: Katya Kulkina
Robert: Dmitry Ulianov
Max: Alexey Vertkov
Running time -- 159 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 5/19/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Opens
February
At once a powerful psychological thriller and a haunting allegory, "The Return" marks an auspicious feature debut for helmer Andrey Zvyagintsev. With its elegiac mood and pulse-quickening suspense, the pared-down narrative is an unforgettable depiction of primal longing for the father. The film is Russia's entry for the foreign-language Oscar, having nabbed the European Film Awards' Discovery of the Year nod and the Venice fest's Golden Lion. Boosted by strong reviews, it should reap art house returns for Kino International upon its Stateside release in February.
The pic's title refers to the sudden reappearance of a man (Konstantin Lavronenko) whose sons know him only from photographs. As much as his absence has created a dark ache in the household he left 12 years earlier, his return introduces a new, oppressive force -- a complicity of silence. Like his pretty, sad-eyed mother (Natalia Vdovina), teenage Andrey (Vladimir Garin) is content to accept the unexplained turn of events, but his younger brother, Ivan (Ivan Dobronravov), wants answers: Where has the man been, why is he back, and why is he taking the two of them on a fishing trip?
Answers are not forthcoming. As country roads unfold before them, the battle of wills between the increasingly surly Ivan and his enigmatic father intensifies, along with suspicion over the man's identity and a foreboding of violence. The boys accompany Father when mysterious business matters summon him to an island, and the percolating dread gives way to momentary expansiveness as they begin their crossing. But the uninhabited island proves no refuge from escalating hostilities.
The lean script by Vladimir Moiseenko and Alexander Novototsky doesn't oversimplify matters
Father is distant and often brutish but no monster. Possessed of an unexpected rectitude, he tries, in his misguided, sometimes cruel way, to impart lessons in self-reliance to his sons. It's the only language he has to bridge an unfathomable gulf. More than eager to help him is Andrey, a heartbreaking construction of conciliatory gestures
his face beams with love even when Father has treated him harshly. But Ivan, ashamed of his fears and his inferior status as second-born, cleaves tighter to his defiant anger.
The affecting performances never strike symbolic poses -- the story's archetypal power lies in its straightforward drama and assured visuals. From the opening shots of a bruised sky at dusk, DP Mikhail Kritchman's elegant compositions convey the mystery and mournfulness that course through the story like the ever-present element of water, whether in pounding rainstorms or the gently lapping tide. Andrey Dergatchev's music punctuates the proceedings with understated nerve-impulse precision.
THE RETURN
Kino International
Ren Film
Credits: Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Screenwriters: Vladimir Moiseenko, Alexander Novototsky
Producer: Dmitry Lesnevsky
Executive producer: Elena Kovaleva
Director of photography: Mikhail Kritchman
Art director: Janna Pakhomova
Music: Andrey Dergatchev
Costume designer: Anna Barthuly
Editor: Vladimir Mogilevsky
Cast:
Andrey: Vladimir Garin
Ivan: Ivan Dobronravov
Father: Konstantin Lavronenko
Mother: Natalia Vdovina
Running time -- 105 minutes
No MPAA rating...
February
At once a powerful psychological thriller and a haunting allegory, "The Return" marks an auspicious feature debut for helmer Andrey Zvyagintsev. With its elegiac mood and pulse-quickening suspense, the pared-down narrative is an unforgettable depiction of primal longing for the father. The film is Russia's entry for the foreign-language Oscar, having nabbed the European Film Awards' Discovery of the Year nod and the Venice fest's Golden Lion. Boosted by strong reviews, it should reap art house returns for Kino International upon its Stateside release in February.
The pic's title refers to the sudden reappearance of a man (Konstantin Lavronenko) whose sons know him only from photographs. As much as his absence has created a dark ache in the household he left 12 years earlier, his return introduces a new, oppressive force -- a complicity of silence. Like his pretty, sad-eyed mother (Natalia Vdovina), teenage Andrey (Vladimir Garin) is content to accept the unexplained turn of events, but his younger brother, Ivan (Ivan Dobronravov), wants answers: Where has the man been, why is he back, and why is he taking the two of them on a fishing trip?
Answers are not forthcoming. As country roads unfold before them, the battle of wills between the increasingly surly Ivan and his enigmatic father intensifies, along with suspicion over the man's identity and a foreboding of violence. The boys accompany Father when mysterious business matters summon him to an island, and the percolating dread gives way to momentary expansiveness as they begin their crossing. But the uninhabited island proves no refuge from escalating hostilities.
The lean script by Vladimir Moiseenko and Alexander Novototsky doesn't oversimplify matters
Father is distant and often brutish but no monster. Possessed of an unexpected rectitude, he tries, in his misguided, sometimes cruel way, to impart lessons in self-reliance to his sons. It's the only language he has to bridge an unfathomable gulf. More than eager to help him is Andrey, a heartbreaking construction of conciliatory gestures
his face beams with love even when Father has treated him harshly. But Ivan, ashamed of his fears and his inferior status as second-born, cleaves tighter to his defiant anger.
The affecting performances never strike symbolic poses -- the story's archetypal power lies in its straightforward drama and assured visuals. From the opening shots of a bruised sky at dusk, DP Mikhail Kritchman's elegant compositions convey the mystery and mournfulness that course through the story like the ever-present element of water, whether in pounding rainstorms or the gently lapping tide. Andrey Dergatchev's music punctuates the proceedings with understated nerve-impulse precision.
THE RETURN
Kino International
Ren Film
Credits: Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Screenwriters: Vladimir Moiseenko, Alexander Novototsky
Producer: Dmitry Lesnevsky
Executive producer: Elena Kovaleva
Director of photography: Mikhail Kritchman
Art director: Janna Pakhomova
Music: Andrey Dergatchev
Costume designer: Anna Barthuly
Editor: Vladimir Mogilevsky
Cast:
Andrey: Vladimir Garin
Ivan: Ivan Dobronravov
Father: Konstantin Lavronenko
Mother: Natalia Vdovina
Running time -- 105 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Opens
February
At once a powerful psychological thriller and a haunting allegory, "The Return" marks an auspicious feature debut for helmer Andrey Zvyagintsev. With its elegiac mood and pulse-quickening suspense, the pared-down narrative is an unforgettable depiction of primal longing for the father. The film is Russia's entry for the foreign-language Oscar, having nabbed the European Film Awards' Discovery of the Year nod and the Venice fest's Golden Lion. Boosted by strong reviews, it should reap art house returns for Kino International upon its Stateside release in February.
The pic's title refers to the sudden reappearance of a man (Konstantin Lavronenko) whose sons know him only from photographs. As much as his absence has created a dark ache in the household he left 12 years earlier, his return introduces a new, oppressive force -- a complicity of silence. Like his pretty, sad-eyed mother (Natalia Vdovina), teenage Andrey (Vladimir Garin) is content to accept the unexplained turn of events, but his younger brother, Ivan (Ivan Dobronravov), wants answers: Where has the man been, why is he back, and why is he taking the two of them on a fishing trip?
Answers are not forthcoming. As country roads unfold before them, the battle of wills between the increasingly surly Ivan and his enigmatic father intensifies, along with suspicion over the man's identity and a foreboding of violence. The boys accompany Father when mysterious business matters summon him to an island, and the percolating dread gives way to momentary expansiveness as they begin their crossing. But the uninhabited island proves no refuge from escalating hostilities.
The lean script by Vladimir Moiseenko and Alexander Novototsky doesn't oversimplify matters
Father is distant and often brutish but no monster. Possessed of an unexpected rectitude, he tries, in his misguided, sometimes cruel way, to impart lessons in self-reliance to his sons. It's the only language he has to bridge an unfathomable gulf. More than eager to help him is Andrey, a heartbreaking construction of conciliatory gestures
his face beams with love even when Father has treated him harshly. But Ivan, ashamed of his fears and his inferior status as second-born, cleaves tighter to his defiant anger.
The affecting performances never strike symbolic poses -- the story's archetypal power lies in its straightforward drama and assured visuals. From the opening shots of a bruised sky at dusk, DP Mikhail Kritchman's elegant compositions convey the mystery and mournfulness that course through the story like the ever-present element of water, whether in pounding rainstorms or the gently lapping tide. Andrey Dergatchev's music punctuates the proceedings with understated nerve-impulse precision.
THE RETURN
Kino International
Ren Film
Credits: Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Screenwriters: Vladimir Moiseenko, Alexander Novototsky
Producer: Dmitry Lesnevsky
Executive producer: Elena Kovaleva
Director of photography: Mikhail Kritchman
Art director: Janna Pakhomova
Music: Andrey Dergatchev
Costume designer: Anna Barthuly
Editor: Vladimir Mogilevsky
Cast:
Andrey: Vladimir Garin
Ivan: Ivan Dobronravov
Father: Konstantin Lavronenko
Mother: Natalia Vdovina
Running time -- 105 minutes
No MPAA rating...
February
At once a powerful psychological thriller and a haunting allegory, "The Return" marks an auspicious feature debut for helmer Andrey Zvyagintsev. With its elegiac mood and pulse-quickening suspense, the pared-down narrative is an unforgettable depiction of primal longing for the father. The film is Russia's entry for the foreign-language Oscar, having nabbed the European Film Awards' Discovery of the Year nod and the Venice fest's Golden Lion. Boosted by strong reviews, it should reap art house returns for Kino International upon its Stateside release in February.
The pic's title refers to the sudden reappearance of a man (Konstantin Lavronenko) whose sons know him only from photographs. As much as his absence has created a dark ache in the household he left 12 years earlier, his return introduces a new, oppressive force -- a complicity of silence. Like his pretty, sad-eyed mother (Natalia Vdovina), teenage Andrey (Vladimir Garin) is content to accept the unexplained turn of events, but his younger brother, Ivan (Ivan Dobronravov), wants answers: Where has the man been, why is he back, and why is he taking the two of them on a fishing trip?
Answers are not forthcoming. As country roads unfold before them, the battle of wills between the increasingly surly Ivan and his enigmatic father intensifies, along with suspicion over the man's identity and a foreboding of violence. The boys accompany Father when mysterious business matters summon him to an island, and the percolating dread gives way to momentary expansiveness as they begin their crossing. But the uninhabited island proves no refuge from escalating hostilities.
The lean script by Vladimir Moiseenko and Alexander Novototsky doesn't oversimplify matters
Father is distant and often brutish but no monster. Possessed of an unexpected rectitude, he tries, in his misguided, sometimes cruel way, to impart lessons in self-reliance to his sons. It's the only language he has to bridge an unfathomable gulf. More than eager to help him is Andrey, a heartbreaking construction of conciliatory gestures
his face beams with love even when Father has treated him harshly. But Ivan, ashamed of his fears and his inferior status as second-born, cleaves tighter to his defiant anger.
The affecting performances never strike symbolic poses -- the story's archetypal power lies in its straightforward drama and assured visuals. From the opening shots of a bruised sky at dusk, DP Mikhail Kritchman's elegant compositions convey the mystery and mournfulness that course through the story like the ever-present element of water, whether in pounding rainstorms or the gently lapping tide. Andrey Dergatchev's music punctuates the proceedings with understated nerve-impulse precision.
THE RETURN
Kino International
Ren Film
Credits: Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Screenwriters: Vladimir Moiseenko, Alexander Novototsky
Producer: Dmitry Lesnevsky
Executive producer: Elena Kovaleva
Director of photography: Mikhail Kritchman
Art director: Janna Pakhomova
Music: Andrey Dergatchev
Costume designer: Anna Barthuly
Editor: Vladimir Mogilevsky
Cast:
Andrey: Vladimir Garin
Ivan: Ivan Dobronravov
Father: Konstantin Lavronenko
Mother: Natalia Vdovina
Running time -- 105 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 12/16/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.