Vozvrashcheniye ( The return ) - Andrei Zvyagintsev
This is a story about 2 young boys who go on a ( supposed ) fishing trip with their father, a dark, mysterious and authoritative figure that has suddenly resurfaced after 12 years. At first the boys are really excited about their fathers return, but as the trip goes on, they discover that their father is not what they had hoped for.
I know several people did a review on this film but i feel it's not getting enough attention on this respected forum. I saw it about a year ago in the theatre but i picked it up again as soon as it came out on DVD. This gave me a chance to look at the film more closely in all it's glory and brilliance.
The narration is built in daily chapters, like the diary that the boys have sworn to write each alternatively. The photography of the film is dark and cold, cristal clear, just like the lakes of the russian tundra . The sounds, like a horn in the mist, give you this incredible chilling feeling.
The actors, especially the younger brother, are amazing, i got chills down my spine when i saw the scene in the rain, the boy is so expressive and such a talented actor that i simply couldn't imagine he's actually acting in front of a camera ( that's a little test i do to see if someone is a really good actor ).
The fact that this film is simply a work of art aside, the story itself and the relationship between the father and his sons impressed me the most . What was depicted is a typical relationship between a cold, authoritative patriarch, a man who commands, displays no emotions on the outside, has no softer side or keeps it barried deep within, and his children, who, given that he wasn't arround for a long time, have not learned how to act arround such figures which leads to confrontations and ultimately a tragic ending.
The climax of the film was such an atomic bomb it sealed the deal for me, it made it one of the best films i have ever seen. It moved me in ways i can't even explain. As it says on the back of the DVD, this film is an unforgetable study of the primordial yearning for a father figure. And even though many questions were left unanswered, for instance, why did the father return? Why did he take them on a trip with him? Where was he all these years? What was in the
goddamn box?! Why did the mother let him take the boys just like that? All of those questions don't really matter, at least to me, because your mind is void after that last scene ends and you are left with this feeling of awe because you have witnessed a masterpiece....then the slide show of pictures the boys took from the trip starts accompanied with this beautiful russian folk song....and you almost feel like crying.......
Reply to Topic
