★★★★★ Living up to its title, there is an epic quality to Leviathan (2014), Andrey Zvyagintsev's tragic drama about corruption and impunity in modern Russia. Mechanic Kolya (Aleksey Serebryakov) and his second wife Lilya (Elena Lyadova) are facing eviction from their home overlooking the Barents Sea in the north. It's in a prime position and the miscreant mayor, Vadim (Roman Madyanov), wants to bulldoze it and redevelop the land. Kolya enlists the help of his old friend Dimitri (Vladimir Vdovichenkov), now a city lawyer, who arrives from Moscow with damning evidence of the mayor's past misdemeanours. Leviathan starts as a simple tale of local corruption which serves to reflect the bigger picture in Russia.
- 3/9/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Well, sometimes some confusion can be a good thing. When I was first aware of this film’s title, I thought that this may be a remake/reboot of the 1989 Peter Weller starring monster thriller with a massive CGI beastie akin to those from Pacific Rim or last Summer’s retooled Godzilla. Seems I was mistaken. Leviathan doesn’t concern itself with a colossal rampaging demon risen from the depths, but rather it’s a complex drama set in a dreary, Russian fishing village (yes, it has subtitles). The title doesn’t refer to a scaly giant that the film’s heroes must face. They instead must square off against an even more formidable adversary, for this leviathan is comprised not of claws and fangs, but corruption and the cruelties of fate itself.
The story begins as the sun rises over that Russian village, as Nikolay (Aleksey Serebryakov) heads away...
The story begins as the sun rises over that Russian village, as Nikolay (Aleksey Serebryakov) heads away...
- 2/20/2015
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The angry grandeur of its despair over how ordinary people get screwed by the powerful may be uniquely Russian, but it will hit home everywhere. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
I suspect Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan has more bite for homegrown audiences, where the film has been subjected to some disapproval and outright censorship from authorities who don’t like its harsh criticism of that nation’s endemic corruption. But the angry grandeur of its despair over how ordinary people get screwed by the powerful will hit home everywhere. (The story is, perhaps not at all ironically, inspired by real events in the U.S.) Kolya (Aleksey Serebryakov) is underemployed, taken advantage of by his so-called friends, and about to lose his home and his small auto-repair business because the mayor (Roman Madyanov...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
I suspect Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan has more bite for homegrown audiences, where the film has been subjected to some disapproval and outright censorship from authorities who don’t like its harsh criticism of that nation’s endemic corruption. But the angry grandeur of its despair over how ordinary people get screwed by the powerful will hit home everywhere. (The story is, perhaps not at all ironically, inspired by real events in the U.S.) Kolya (Aleksey Serebryakov) is underemployed, taken advantage of by his so-called friends, and about to lose his home and his small auto-repair business because the mayor (Roman Madyanov...
- 2/18/2015
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
The 2014 RopeofSilicon Movie Awards It's hard to believe I've been doing my own brand of "awards" for seven years now. Perhaps because film awards seem to have grown increasingly irrelevant, but when you watch as many movies as I do per year it is nice to sit back and remember the finer moments of the past year, especially when we're stuck in the doldrums of the early year releases, dealing with the likes of Jupiter Ascending, Taken 3, Blackhat and Seventh Son. So, as we are now only a few weeks away from the 87th Annual Academy Awards, it's time to hand out the 2014 RopeofSilicon Movie Awards, looking back on a year that turned out to be much better than it initially appeared it may be. A hard question I'm trying to answer is just what kind of year in movies was 2014c Like previous years, blockbusters came and went.
- 2/9/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has unveiled its 2015 line-up which includes films representing 54 countries, 23 world premieres and 53 U.S. premieres. The U.S. premiere of Niki Caro’s McFarland USA will close out the 30th fest. Based on the 1987 true story and starring Kevin Costner and Maria Bello, the film follows novice runners from McFarland, an economically challenged town in California’s farm-rich Central Valley, as they give their all to build a cross-country team under the direction of Coach Jim White (Costner), a newcomer to their predominantly Latino high school. The unlikely band of runners overcomes the odds to forge not only a championship cross-country team but an enduring legacy as well.
The festival runs from January 27-February 7.
Below is the list of World and U.S. Premiere films followed by the list of titles by sidebar categories.
World Premieres
A Better You, USA
Directed by Matt Walsh
Cast: Brian Huskey,...
The festival runs from January 27-February 7.
Below is the list of World and U.S. Premiere films followed by the list of titles by sidebar categories.
World Premieres
A Better You, USA
Directed by Matt Walsh
Cast: Brian Huskey,...
- 1/8/2015
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline
A self-acknowledged "showcase for Academy Award frontrunners," the Santa Barbara International Film Festival is often overlooked for the actual films that earn it festival status. An amalgamation of international discoveries and ’merica’s circuit highlights, the Sbiff curates a week of best-of-the-best to pair with their star-praising. The 2015 edition offers another expansive selection, bookended by two films that aren’t on any radars just yet. Sbiff will open with "Desert Dancer," producer Richard Raymond’s directorial debut. Starring Reece Ritchie and Frieda Pinto, the drama follows a group of friends who wave off the harsh political climate of Iran’s 2009 presidential election in favor of forming a dance team, picking up moves from Michael Jackson, Gene Kelly and Rudolf Nureyev thanks to the magic of YouTube. The festival will close with "McFarland, USA," starring Kevin Costner and Maria Bello. Telling the 1987 true story of a Latino high school’s underdog cross-country team,...
- 1/8/2015
- by Matt Patches
- Hitfix
Set amid the decaying hulks of long-abandoned boats and beached whales in a forsaken coastal town on the edge of the Barents Sea, Andrey Zvyagintsev’s mesmerizing, melancholy Leviathan is an aestheticized Russian tragedy. It’s about the battle of the individual versus the state — a battle that has already been lost before we even arrive. Kolya (Aleksey Serebryakov) is a mechanic living with his wife and son in an ancient seaside home. He’s being evicted off his property by Vadim (Roman Madyanov), a corrupt, gangsterish mayor who looks like a bratwurst squeezed into a suit. But the headstrong, tough-minded Kolya isn’t going anywhere; his family has lived here for decades. So, to help him fight back against Vadim, Kolya enlists his handsome, big-city lawyer friend Dmitri (Vladimir Vdovichenkov), who brings with him a binder full of dirt on Vadim, courtesy of some very powerful and unseen figures in Moscow.
- 12/24/2014
- by Bilge Ebiri
- Vulture
"Leviathan" isn't about Russian president Vladimir Putin, per se, but it's impossible to miss the portrait of him prominently displayed in the office of the film's principal villain: Vadim (Roman Madyanov), the mayor of a seaside town who tries to strong-arm a local man out of his home. A corrupt Russian leader trying to force his way onto land that doesn't belong to him – sound familiar? But the film was selected anyway by Russia's Oscar nomination committee to represent the country in the Best Foreign Language Film race. Can it win? -Break- Nine semi-finalists for Foreign Film at Oscars: 'Ida,' 'Force Majeure,' 'Wild Tales,' ... Perhaps more surprising than "Leviathan's" Oscar selection is the fact that the film was made on Russia's dime, receiving a large portion of its funding from Russia's ministry of culture. But while its stinging critique of its nation's politicians, legal...
- 12/23/2014
- Gold Derby
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
Andrei Zvyagintsev clearly believes that the pen, or camera, is mightier than the sword. In “Leviathan," the director’s newest film (one that we gave an A), he depicts a struggle in a small Russian town between the mechanic Kolya (Alexei Serebryakov) who wants to keep a parcel of land from an eminent domain takedown by Mayor Vadim (Roman Madyanov). Kolya recruits his old friend Dimitri (Vladimir Vdovitchenkov), now a big shot Moscow lawyer, to make an appeal. The duo try to make the mayor pay a fair price for the land, or else take him out with the dossier of dirt they collected on Vadim. The mayor calls their bluff, and the feud threatens to escalate even further. Zvyagintsev said this is a universal problem in government, and the story was inspired by a case in the United States. But he draws inspiration from the hopelessness that Russian government causes among its citizens.
- 11/7/2014
- by Joshua Encinias
- The Playlist
Peculiarly, pathos has proven to be a more reliable element in comedies than in dramas. The pitiful man tends to incite a curious form of laughter than he would empathy, especially when his piteousness is welded with a muted strain of conceit. This is particularly a male phenomenon as well. By account of his built-in vanity and his lack of natural poise, the ultimate nonfulfillment of man, more than woman, almost seems deserved, as though karma has finally come forth to give the excessively proud its comeuppance. Since even in sadness these men refrain from grace, this blow to their vanity turns humorous, their every pretense conspicuous to a detached audience and their every lie palpable. We are prompted to engage with the work by laughing at the ignoble fool’s ignorance of everyone’s cognizance, as he lies and patronizes, while everybody sees through him except for himself. He...
- 11/3/2014
- by Morad Moazami
- SoundOnSight
Politics, corruption, religion and vodka dominate the grey landscape that is Andrey Zvyagintsev's Leviathan (Levifan), a hefty film for both its 141-minute running time as well as its weighty material. Moving at a pace all its own, with knockout performances and stunning cinematography from Mikhail Krichman, Leviathan serves as a perfect example of a film that separates art house from mainstream. This isn't a tale of the small guy that took on the autocratic state and won. The opportunity for this to be that movie is here, but it pushes well past that point, proving the metaphorical leviathan is far too cunning for such Hollywood-esque happy endings. The story begins on the Barents Sea as we learn Kolia (Alexei Serebriakov) is facing the prospect his business, home and land will be taken from him. The villain in this piece is Vadim Shelevyat (Roman Madyanov), the town's corrupt mayor, whose...
- 9/5/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Following yesterday's Us trailer for the Cannes Palme d'Or prize-winning film Winter Sleep, we have another much buzzed about title from the French showcase of cinema debuting a trailer. This year, Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev (The Return, Elena) returned to Cannes with his drama Leviathan, the story that is described as a gripping parable of class, faith and corruption, centering on a land dispute between a small-time mechanic and his local authorities that reaps unimaginable consequences. The film is actually inspired by the Biblical tale of Job, and looks like a provocative, masterfully shot piece of cinema. Here's the first trailer for Andrey Zvyagintsev's Leviathan from Palace Films: Kolia (Alexey Serebryakov) lives in a coastal village near the Barents Sea in Northern Russia, running an auto-repair shop, shared with young wife Lilya (Elena Lyadova) and his teenage son. Suddenly they find their lives and home threatened as Vadim Sergeyich...
- 8/29/2014
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
You may not be able to pronounce the name Andrey Zvyagintsev, but this spring you likely saw that flurry of consonants and vowels across Twitter or in the blogosphere. The director's epic "Leviathan" was the big talk of the Cannes Film Festival, and one many thought would take the Palme d'Or. Instead, it had to settle on the screenplay prize, but if the buzz is anything to go by, this is a movie you need to put high on your watch list. Starring Alexey Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova, Vladimir Vdovitchenkov, Roman Madyanov, Anna Ukolova, Alexey Rozin and Sergey Pokhadaev, the movie is set in a small town in which a property owner and the mayor battle over a parcel of land, in a story inspired by the Biblical tale of Job. But there's much more, as it comments on corruption in Russia, and our A-grade review calls the movie "not just masterful but also hugely important.
- 8/29/2014
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
I'd never seen any of director Andrey Zvyagintsev's work prior to seeing Leviathan (Leviafan), winner for Best Screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival, last week. Not The Return nor Elena, but this is clearly the work of a master storyteller, but it is a dark piece of work that balances corrupt Russian politics with religion and a whole lot of vodka. Today a subtitled trailer for the film arrives giving you a hint of what to expect from the nearly 150-minute drama. Here's the official plot synopsis: Kolia lives in a small town near the Barents Sea, in North Russia. He has his own auto-repair shop. His shop stands right next to the house where he lives with his young wife Lilya and his son from a previous marriage Roma. Vadim Shelevyat, the Mayor of the town, wants to take away his business, his house and his land.
- 8/29/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
The Masters section is always a Croisette and Lido heavy selection and this year is no different. From Cannes we have Jean-Luc Godard’s Goodbye to Language 3D (which is a top of the charts item according to our Blake Williams) Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan (which our Nicholas Bell thinks is near perfection and calls “cinematic sublimity with this multilayered and operatic exploration of the crushing corruption of an unchecked regime” and Abderrahmane Sissakos’ Timbuktu. On tap directly from Venice we might have the retirement films from Roy Andersson (A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence) and Ann Hui (The Golden Era), with some South Korean representation from Hong Sang-soo in Hill of Freedom and Revivre from Im Kwon-taek, but the worthy mentions are the nabbed world premiere status items from the always fascinating, taste dispenser and wide-ranging filmography in Michael Winterbottom & the always wry and humorous latest...
- 7/29/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Leviathan
Written by Oleg Negin and Andrei Zvyagintsev
Directed by Andrei Zvyagintsev
Russia, 2014
There are three things you don’t discuss at a dinner table: politics, religion, and your unending suffering at the hands of those two beasts. Andrei Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan manages to bring all three of those into a modern retelling of Job by way of Thomas Hobbes. Taking influence from such classic texts puts Zvyagintsev in the realm of other Russian storytellers known for grand-scale ambitions: Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Tarkovsky. Luckily, his cultural inheritance is well-utilized — the title implying a mammoth tale from a political beast encapsulates a present-day Russia dominated by systems out of its citizens’ control.
Kolya (Alexei Serebryakov) and his son Roma (Sergey Pokhadaev) smack each other at the breakfast table as punishment-turned-friendly-roughhousing. Roma is still getting used to Kolya’s second wife Lilya (Elena Lyadova) living with them in their seaside home, so he...
Written by Oleg Negin and Andrei Zvyagintsev
Directed by Andrei Zvyagintsev
Russia, 2014
There are three things you don’t discuss at a dinner table: politics, religion, and your unending suffering at the hands of those two beasts. Andrei Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan manages to bring all three of those into a modern retelling of Job by way of Thomas Hobbes. Taking influence from such classic texts puts Zvyagintsev in the realm of other Russian storytellers known for grand-scale ambitions: Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Tarkovsky. Luckily, his cultural inheritance is well-utilized — the title implying a mammoth tale from a political beast encapsulates a present-day Russia dominated by systems out of its citizens’ control.
Kolya (Alexei Serebryakov) and his son Roma (Sergey Pokhadaev) smack each other at the breakfast table as punishment-turned-friendly-roughhousing. Roma is still getting used to Kolya’s second wife Lilya (Elena Lyadova) living with them in their seaside home, so he...
- 5/30/2014
- by Zach Lewis
- SoundOnSight
As a film critic, one is usually moved to immediate expression when a great film comes down the pike -- its ideas spur one's own, the words tumble forth in not-always-orderly fashion, the urge to share an experience sometimes outpacing the ability to parse it. Yet sometimes baldly extraordinary films thwart our initial attempts to write about them, and such has been the case with me and Andrei Zvyagintsev's "Leviathan" -- a classically robust, not inordinately complicated melodrama that nonetheless seems to be about something different every time I sit down to tackle it. It's been a week since I saw it at Cannes, and "Leviathan" hasn't yet settled in my mind or heart; rather, it continues to unsettle, in ways both exciting and elusive. It's a film, like a rich novel, from which you might wish to re-read extracts while only halfway through; it's certainly the first film I...
- 5/30/2014
- by Guy Lodge
- Hitfix
Leviathan
Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev
Writers: Andrei Zvyagintsev and Oleg Nevin
Producer(s): Non-stop Production
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Elena Lyadova, Alexei Serebryakov, Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Roman Madyanov
With a trio of deliriously exciting titles under his belt, the 2011 drama Elena (world premiere coverage) saw a resurgence in critical appreciation for one of the most exciting directors working in Russia over the past decade, Andrei Zvyagintsev. A socially conscious drama that sounds like highbrow science fiction, the director returns with screenwriter Oleg Nevin, who penned both Elena and The Banishment (2007). Zvyagintsev gave a rare interview in the earlier part of 2013 on the project, so, with a little luck, perhaps this will be ready in time for Cannes.
Gist: Described as a drama that that melts into tragedy as it depicts current day social problems, this a much more ambitious project than his last film, which also unites him with actress Elena Lyadova.
Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev
Writers: Andrei Zvyagintsev and Oleg Nevin
Producer(s): Non-stop Production
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Elena Lyadova, Alexei Serebryakov, Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Roman Madyanov
With a trio of deliriously exciting titles under his belt, the 2011 drama Elena (world premiere coverage) saw a resurgence in critical appreciation for one of the most exciting directors working in Russia over the past decade, Andrei Zvyagintsev. A socially conscious drama that sounds like highbrow science fiction, the director returns with screenwriter Oleg Nevin, who penned both Elena and The Banishment (2007). Zvyagintsev gave a rare interview in the earlier part of 2013 on the project, so, with a little luck, perhaps this will be ready in time for Cannes.
Gist: Described as a drama that that melts into tragedy as it depicts current day social problems, this a much more ambitious project than his last film, which also unites him with actress Elena Lyadova.
- 3/7/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
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