Elena (2011)

A bird is seen perched upon a cold, lifeless, leafless tree. Simultaneously, we see interiors of a similarly cold, empty, but plush, wealthy home. The opening frame of the dry tree is so dead, that we are almost tricked into believing that it is a still frame, but for the diegetic crowing of a few birds. The stillness and the dead calm of the tree and of this particular shot is suddenly destroyed when another bird enters the scene and perches itself on the other end of the branch, and shakes it vigorously, thereby disturbing the tranquility and creating ripples in an established, stable system.

The central plot of Andrey Zvyagintsev's "Elena" (2011) sums up this scenario to a significant extent. A portly old ex-nurse Elena (Nadezhda Markina), is married to a wealthy ex-patient she took care of some ten years ago. The husband is an old rich man by the name of Vladimir (Andrey Smirnov). He has an estranged, hedonist daughter Katya (Elena Lyadova) from a previous marriage, who admittedly needs her father only for the money. Elena, on the other hand, has a no-good son, Sergei (Aleksey Rozin), from a previous marriage, and his family, including a 17 year old grandson who desperately needs money to get into college, failing which he may have to be sent to military service. 

Each member of the couple ends up defending their own blood child when it comes to arguing about who deserves more attention and care based on their overall demeanor and gratefulness toward their respective parent. A sudden change of events concerning Vladimir's health problem leads to the question of a will, which leads to further complications, as Katya's change of heart towards her father and vice versa pose as a threat to the future of Elena's wasted son. Blood threatens to be thicker than water, and circumstances put Elena in a fix as she finds herself subjected to the ultimate test of loyalty...!

Zvyagintsev, who previously crafted an equally complex, gripping and effective family drama, "The Return" (2003), surprises and disturbs with this minimal tale that unfolds with its deliberate pace and calm atmosphere, and yet hits you like a ton of bricks when it gets to its turning point. This time around, Zyvagintsev takes his own sweet time in letting his audiences observe his characters. And therefore, in what may seem like wasted running time, we are shown some subtle, yet deliberate sequence of events, that make us well aware of the kind of characters we are dealing with.

The many shades of gray of each character are revealed in some realistic and convincing sequences, never far-fetched. Nevertheless, it is nothing that would make you hate or love a character, but merely understand where the person is coming from and what kind of an influence he/she may have on the people who they are closely related with. 

Quite a few fleeting clues are thrown about, hinting at the overall message of the story and how a bad seed begets a bad seed, and how every person needs to gauge their standing in the society or the kind of parents they would make, to even think of breeding and bringing more children of their own kind to this world. The very nihilistic, cynical and unabashedly frank daughter of Vladimir, Katya, even seems to befriend the old man after all, for she always portrays with all honesty that the only string attaching her to her father is that of monetary needs. And yet, somewhere in her arrogance, we at least see an integrity, unlike her old father, who seems to be all heart otherwise, but then doesn't think twice before leching at a comely young gym member, his daughter's age, working out as he sweats it out on a treadmill!

Not offering any ray of hope on the other side, is Elena's son Sergei, a lazy, jobless drunk, who cannot even afford his teenage son's education, yet wastes away his life and doesn't care about getting employed. Perhaps it is out of a sense of taking his stepfather for granted and that his financial needs would be taken care of anyway. How hypocritical of him then, that initially refused a grant of any sort, he calls Vladimir a tight-ass and later, when he ends up getting some sum of money after all, goes on to make a toast to the old man, and decides to name his unborn son after him! 

It is a two-faced world all the way, and one wonders if it is the socio-economic environment as depicted in the film, that has created such an indifferent, inhuman atmosphere. In an almost Claude Chabrol-esque finesse, Zvyagintsev reveals the inherent class conflict, be it in terms of mentality or in terms of lifestyle. Despite all the awesomely colourful and crisp cinematography by Mikhail Krichman, we see a distinction between classes that takes almost black and white extremes! Vladimir's home is a dream house, with all the works of luxuries, while Sergei's place is a crummy, shabby old neighbourhood run down apartment, that can barely contain two, let alone, his upcoming family of five!

Symbolic images like the birds and two smoking chimneys flanking one non-smoking one clearly drive home the gist of the story of a dying old man and the two most important but headstrong women in his life, his new wife and his ungrateful daughter, both wanting a piece of the man's dough! An excellent musical score composed by Philip Glass makes its welcome appearance at scenes that, on a normal basis build up to nothing significant event-wise, but do serve to reflect an internal angst or sentiment of a character in that very moment. 

These instances and the brilliantly written pieces of tense drama are accentuated by the marvelous performances by an all round talented cast. Andrey Smirnov is spectacular as the old man, confident at one point and well aware of his mortality on the other side of an illness, displaying an eerie genuineness to his ailing self. Surpassing Smirnov is the astonishingly natural Nadezhda Markina in her portrayal of the complex, eponymous Elena. This is a performance for the ages, and coming from an actor who makes her debut on the big screen here after graduating from the small screen. Emerging strong in supporting acts are Elena Lyadova as the compulsively rude Katya and Aleksey Rozin as her beer-guzzling stepbrother. 

A film like "Elena" is a sheer delight for every cinephile hungry for some tense, brilliantly acted, edgy, morally complex films that don't have to try too hard to establish that they are a work of true genius. It would be a crime to miss this film.

Score: 9/10

4 (Chetyre) (2005)

Thematic surrealism is a term that can aptly describe this fascinating Russian indie written by Vladimir Sorokin and directed by Ilya Khrzhanovsky. "4" (AKA "Chetyre") (2005) brings to mind the excellent number-themed Peter Greenaway film "Drowning by Numbers" (1988). Of course, Greenaway's film excels by a huge margin in terms of creativity and execution, but "4" certainly deserves its fair share of notice.

The number 4 is staring at you in practically every frame of the film. In a rather strange but subtly profound beginning, on a cold night on a desolate street in the city, four stray dogs, suddenly become alert and seconds later escape from the place, squealing, as four legs of a giant machine used to drill holes on the road (possibly for repair work) descend down near them! This amazing beginning immediately grabs our attention and the action (or lack of it) shifts to a nearby bar where the three primary characters (already somewhat introduced in three small scenes) happen to arrive in the late hours to order drinks. The sleepy bartender is the only other person present there (four again!) Over a couple of brews and cigarettes the three get engaged in a rather outlandish conversation that manages to hook us audiences and make us their interested listeners. Tall tales are exchanged; it is clear that they are lies. 

The piano player/tuner Vladimir (Sergey Shnurov) claims to be working as a genetic engineer with a team involved in cloning and claims that clones or doubles, as he calls them, were, and are being made in sets of four twins. He further adds that a lot of experiment results in the form of human clones exist among them, in society and are distributed among some slums near the city! Oleg (Yuri Laguta), a seller of old, dead meat, claims to sell spring water to the officials at the Kremlin and adds that he works closely with President Putin enough to know his and his wife's drinking habits! The only female present there, Marina (Marina Vovchenko) is clearly a prostitute as introduced in an earlier scene, but claims to be in advertising, helping sell a Japanese invention that increases the productivity of workers! Of course, the trio appears to take each other's stories with a pinch of salt and disperse. Only things take a bizarre turn when these fantastical yarns, more specifically, Vladimir's begin to manifest in their realities like a nightmare come true..!

Ilya Khrzhanovsky steers clear of making any explicit references, yet constructs a film that acts like a satire or even an exaggerated parable emphasizing on existing issues in contemporary Russia. A significant portion of the film plays out like a half-asleep weird dream shifting between ground reality and exaggerated excess, and the remainder like a minimalist humanistic drama. It's a unique blend in film and it certainly makes "4" a different breed of cinema from a majority of others. The surrealism itself is not the Bunuel-esque in-your-face or pure, but it clearly distinguishes itself from the rational aspects. 

The aforementioned thematic device keeps you engaged in a clever little spotting game, as various objects, notices, numbers, signboards, etc. appear to somehow hint at the number four in some form or the other. There are some nuanced scenes that satirize certain traits of the characters as well as the Russian sociopolitical situation. The second part of the film, post the long bar conversation is what makes most of the film, and Ilya Khrzhanovsky freewheels into a narrative technique that flip-flops between jarring and captivating! The common surrealistic device of a recurring motif is used to a disquietingly funny effect in the scene of Marina's train journey.

The latter half of "4" takes place in Marina's village. The cinematography here is stupendous when it captures the breathtaking country landscapes and the bleak, foggy and watery surroundings to a mesmerizing effect. These shots are reminiscent of the dilapidation shown in Andrei Tarkovsky's magnificent "Stalker" (1979). Too bad though, that in an act of self-indulgence, the camera takes a life of its own, shakes a lot to a point of giddiness and zooms in to capture awkward and unnecessary close-ups, to the extent of even blurring the image to disappointing levels. It is the final half hour though, that somewhat overstays its welcome in an otherwise engrossing film. 

The proceedings in Marina's village turn out to be an excessively bawdy and gross-out affair with long shots and disconcerting close-ups of a huge gang of old crones who seem to be the only inhabitants of the place other than some three youngsters. These old ladies are constantly loud and vulgar, engaging in drunken feasting and brawling even when in mourning; they undress and tease each other's sagging anatomies, run across the neighbourhood bawling and singing out loud, and for a living, make dolls out of bread that they chew and spit out! In one bitingly amusing sequence amidst the chaos though, the severed head of a giant pig is thrown in the sty of some smaller pigs for them to feast on! As one girl among them rightly describes, it is indeed a madhouse!

Khrzhanovsky also criminally concentrates only on Marina's episode and neglects the characters of Oleg and Vladimir later, although Vladimir's yarn is the primary focus of the story. Oleg only appears twice later and reappears towards the very end, while Vladimir more or less disappears. Any attempts to defend this problem with the film are only excuses to mask the deficient writing. The blatant sidelining wouldn't matter if Vladimir wasn't given so much importance in the film's riveting first hour. A lot of time is spent in making some scenes unnecessarily and frustratingly long, especially in the aforementioned final half hour. The proceedings don't go anywhere; they just stay there and revel in their cacophony. The writers could've instead tried incorporating more ideas and expanded on the proceedings in the lives of the other two characters.

Flaws do disappoint but the larger effect prevails; you know you have seen something refreshingly original and daring. You know you have witnessed some real fine acting and have had a considerably involving audio-visual experience that boasts of some memorable images and excellent sound design. "4" is a true-blue Russian film that celebrates Vodka-drinking like no other! It has a script that could've been better, but nevertheless, one that's quirky as well as clever. So, of course, this one's certainly recommended. Films like these don't come out very often.

Score: 8/10

The Return (2003)

Sometimes some seemingly ordinary situations in the lives of common people can serve as premises of highly extraordinary films such as Andrei Zvyagintsev’s 2003 film, “The Return (Vozvrashcheniye)”.

Somewhere in a remote part of Russia, two boys, Andrei (Vladimir Garin) and his younger brother Ivan (Ivan Dobronravov) reside with their mother and granny. Everything seems fine and the brothers share a fine brotherly chemistry. The status quo is suddenly disturbed when the boys’ father (Konstantin Lavronenko) who’d been gone for an estimated period of 12 long years returns home. Where he had been and whence he had returned isn’t disclosed by their mother when they inquisitively question her. ”He just came back”, she replies and leaves it at that! The boys begin to wonder why he returned after that long a time and discuss all sorts of theories. They even dig up an old photograph of the whole family taken when Ivan was a baby to convince themselves that the man who has returned is indeed their father!

At (apparently) their mother’s request, the boys’ father takes them out on a fishing trip the next day. Now, considering that these kids have absolutely no emotional attachment (not surprisingly) whatsoever with this man who says he is their father, it becomes a pretty challenging task to suddenly obey him as he tries to exercise his right over them as a father would. The whole exercise seems to be clearly awkward for the father as well, who also doesn’t seem to exhibit any real connection with the kids. While the older Andrei tries his level best to adjust to his newly returned father’s whims, the younger Ivan takes a rebellious stand and refuses to comply with his father’s authoritative demeanor. 

Ivan’s attitude towards his father grows more negative as he begins to suspect his father may be involved in something and has returned only for selfish reasons! What starts off as a fun, adventurous fishing trip and a perfect means of bonding with a long absconding father, turns out to be an ultimate test of endurance that would change the brothers’ lives forever….. 

 

“The Return” manages to grip you from its very first frame. Each scene is intelligently written and drives home important facets of each character; right from that first scene in which some neighbourhood boys are showing off their guts by jumping in a nearby lake from a considerable height. Young Ivan who is scared of heights just sits there and cries as other kids call him “chicken” and move along. It is a pivotal scene, the importance of which, one will only realize later in the film.

There are moments of subtle brilliance all throughout the film like one scene in which, as the father parks his truck near a diner, he ogles at a couple of young ladies passing by through the rearview mirror. The look on Ivan’s face is priceless as he catches his father in the act. “The Return” is full of such fine moments and more which are best left for the viewer to find out. 

“The Return” succeeds with flying colours in the primary departments of Screenplay, Direction, Cinematography and Acting. It is amazing how effortlessly the events unfold on screen and how deftly director Andrei Zvyagintsev handles some of the most challenging scenes in the film. Ten on ten points go out to Mikhail Krichman for his brilliant cinematography. Behold how his camera lovingly captures some of the most picturesque shots of the rain-drenched Russian countryside with colours and clarity one can only dream of! Acting is bravura all throughout but the real hero of the film is the youngest actor Ivan Dobronravov who impresses the most with his outstanding performance. Watch the lad deliver an affecting performance with such ease, it is extremely difficult to even believe that a camera was there and he actually rehearsed all those scenes! 

“The Return” may end on a note that may be a tad underwhelming to some for its abruptness as some plot details are withheld and left for the viewer to interpret. But perhaps that is beyond the point. The scope of the film is only clear long after we reach the ending credits, and in the end, after some pondering, we realize that the conclusion is befitting indeed!

9/10 for this Russian gem. Films like “The Return” are hard to come by. Embrace it with open arms!