Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Andrey Zvyagintsev's, The Return, is a tour-de-force that undoubtedly succeeds in its attempt to "take a mythological look on human life" - and the cinematographer and actors allow the director to do this without letting the film get predictable.

If you have the opportunity to see this film in the theater - take it. The cinematography is well worth the big screen. But if you're like me and prefer to take in quiet, smoldering cinematic experiences like this one completely alone, the DVD is terrific too.

The film follows a period of just a few short days and reveals a handful of unforgettable characters. A father returns to his family after a long absence with no explanation. His two teenage boys have grown up thinking that he's a pilot, yet he has no uniform - which plants the seed of gnawing suspicion in the younger boy (Vladimir Garin as Andrey). Over the course of several days, we follow the boys on a road trip and subsequent fishing trip with their very complicated father (the remarkably organic Konstantin Lavronenko). Andrey continues to agitate, question and challenge this mysterious man who shows only glimpses of fatherly tenderness while Andrey's older brother Ivan (Ivan Dobronravov) struggles to keep the peace.

Dobronravov is the show stealer here as he shows up even the incredibly captivating performances of Lavronenko and Garin. Ivan initially seems to be the simplest character -and this is partially done to drive Andrey's complexity in the film - and his constant codependent behavior on the trip is so steady that you barely notice how deep his longing for a father has cut into your heart until the climax of the film. This performance means we have undergone a profound loss. Ivan Dobronravov, the actor who played Ivan, actually drowned before the film was released.

This film makes careful, important choices - such as the use of foreshadowing and the symbolic imagery - and you will find yourself thankfully unaware of their use until the very end of the film. The director is refreshingly focused and ecnomical with all of his choices. His experience filming commercials - where focused, economical choices are of the utmost importance to convey the intended message - likely contributes to that aspect of his filmaking. Images like those of Andrey abandoned on a bridge in the pouring rain remain searing and embedded bits that illustrate this father-sons myth of biblical resonance.

THE RETURN
CAST
Vladimir Garin - Andrey

Ivan Dobronravov - Ivan

Konstantin Lavronenko - Father

Natalia Vdovina - Mother

CREW

Producer - Dmitry Lesnevsky
Director - Andrey Zvyagintsev
Screenplay - Vladimir Moiseenko and Alexander Novototsky
Director of Photography - Mikhail Kritchman
Music - Andrey Dergatchev
Editor - Vladimir Mogilevsky
Art Director - Janna Pakhomova
Sound - Andrey Khudyakov
Costumes - Anna Barthuly
Make-up - Galya Ponomareva
Executive producer - Elena Kovaleva

Winner, Best Foreign Film, International Critics Award, Palm Springs Film Festival

Many more awards on its belt. . .105 minutes running time.

My Movie Reviews:
Edges of the Lord
The Keys to the House
The Greatest Game Ever Played
The Dresser

©2005 Meagan Downey





Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older