Film Review: The Return (2003). Director: Andrei Zvagintsev.
The Russian land is abounded with stalwarts and savants galore, be it any field. In literature, they are blessed with Pushkin and Gorky, in music they have the talents of Dmitri Shostakovich and Tchaivosky who composed mellifluous waltzes. In the area of science, there was the famous pioneer of the Periodic Table, Dmitri Ivanovitch Mendeleev. In cinema, there are auteurs like Anderi Tarkovsky, the director of the legendary cinematic masterpiece 'Andrei Rublev (1966)' and Anderi Zvagintsev who has made films on diverse genres.
Leo Tolstoy said, "happiness is an allegory, unhappiness a story". In his opinion, happy people are happy for similar reasons, but unhappy people have different reasons for unhappiness. When it comes to families, a happy family may look happy or may seem to be doing just fine, but like Nietzsche said, "beneath beautiful surfaces lie terrible depths". 'The Return (2003)' is a film about depths.
Andrei and Ivan, two brothers who live with their mother and grandmother are in a conundrum when their father suddenly arrives after twelve years and takes them on a trip after little insistence and much coercion. It is a film that embodies Kafkaesque story, visuals and characters. The film is shot in the most beautiful parts of Russia where the father coaxes his children into a road trip, and the siblings inter se are not able to gather a limpid idea regarding their father's character and credibility.
As the film progresses, the audience would find themselves in direct empathy with the siblings, who are literally as well as figuratively at sea (it's a fishing trip) and go against the father, whose arrival is rather haphazard and respect demanded rather than commanded. 'The Return (2003)' is not a stereotypical audience oriented thriller movie with cliffhangers and plot-twisters, it is a character oriented work of art, in the sense that the course of action of the characters may not always make sense to the audience, as the film is not directed with an intent of always appealing to the sensibility of the audience. It is not a conventional audience pleaser, but a rather unconventional film which would please the audience differently.
'The Return (2003)' is a film that primarily cinephiles, readers, photography enthusiasts and art aficionados must watch. It may appear that there is a clear answer in the film. But, that is all there is to it. The appearance of an answer, which may be the answer, or the answer could be something else. The film is a mirror image that does not show the one standing in front of it. In simple words, the film is tenebrous yet superficial. The conversations amongst the characters is simplistic, yet the direction is obscure. The film is far from a bathos or burlesque, and is a complete work of art.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a celebrated author known for his evergreen novel titled, 'Love in the time of Cholera' wrote, "it is not just the fact of bringing children into this world that binds the parent and the child. It is the gradual friendship that evolves between them as they grow up". Children do not love their parents simply because the parents gave birth to them. They love their parents because they were loved and cared for first. Throughout the course of the film, the audience can understand a complex family dynamic, the difference in the psyche of the elder brother, who just wanted to please his father and attenuate the tension between him and his irascible and choleric younger brother, and the younger brother, who left no stone unturned in taunting the father, cribbing constantly and in all honesty, being a child.
The direction of the film is par excellence and the audience is sure to marvel at the beautiful work of art this film becomes as it progresses, the leads Vladimir Garin who played the sweet and confused Andrei, the elder brother, Ivan Dobronravov who played the younger brother Ivan and Konstantin Lavronenko, who played Otets, their father have done a magnificent job and made every moment of their acting worthwhile. With little or no background music, and remote locations, silence plays a huge role in providing a direction to the film and giving it a mysterious aura.
'The Return (2003)' may not be a conventional suspense film, but it explores the diverse varieties of the genre, and in that it complies with 'Chandler's Commandments' and 'S.S. Van Dine's twenty rules for suspense fiction'.
Overall, the beautiful and soothing visuals coupled with exemplary direction and stupendous performances, by all the leads, 'The Return (2003)' is a film that must be watched not just for the story, but for the exploration of character-oriented cinema. It may not answer the "whens" and the "whys", but touches upon various other things. If the film were to be described in three words, the apropos ones would be: Kafkaesque, Picturesque and Surreal.
MY TAKE: 9/10.
Watch trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEKp-Ort7hU
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This movie stresses on the importance of relationship between a parent and the child,how it should be nurtured. Every relationship is a two way process.Very well written review,keep writing ,make us proud.❤️❤️❤️
ReplyDeleteWow Great review .. need to check this movie out ! Seems some strong character portrayal 👍🏻
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