Leviathan

cold, cruel, minimalistic. the force of image and the silence. the atmosphere from The Return, the characters from Elena. and the fight against almighty corrupt system. the lost of each pillar of existence and the desire to demonstrate your truth. inspired cast and strange landscapes. and, sure, a lot of controversies. in fact, the film is only tool for remind the heart of reality. a manifesto without enthusiasm. a verdict. it is beautiful and deep bitter. because it reflects the forms of falling world. the solitude as last solution. the pressure of system. the fight for survive. a film who reminds basic things. and a great director as inspired guide in the heart of reality. one of Rusian movies who could remind many masterpieces. but it is not Tarkovsky, it is not Abuladze, it remains a Zvyagintsev. his confession. about a reality and about new Job.

From the very beginning up to very end you can feel the tension and the emotions up to a pure exaggeration! This is not at all something negative! The photography is absolutely enchanting and offers to the viewer that beautiful heartbeat that in a such a film is essential. Amazing, unforgettable landscapes!

You cannot resist in taking sides when you see and understand the heroes battling with their demons and their enemies, that seem to be surrounding everything that makes their lives...

Andrey Zvyagintsev after the wonders of drama, passion and mystic lyricism (Vozvrashchenie and Izgnanie) offers yet another one similar of his creations, adding though, a "spicy" allow me to say subject, a taboo, about corruption in modern day Russia and how all those things which are considered as high values to the Russian State and people, seem to be part in this injustice, destroying peoples' lives.

There's certainly a feeling of dread, of malice, that really takes over the film even in its early stages. It's rather impressive. The opening and closing shots are of very much resemblance and they do sort of open and close this one tale. It's very much in line with a dark thriller (and in many ways this is that). It's rather impressive, rather stoic. The cinematography is rather beautiful, and it sets off the tone rather well. There are some truly impressive shots in this piece of work, it even reminded me of The White Ribbon. I'm not sure I loved everything about how the script develops, but the film as a whole is certainly very good and perhaps will remain as the best from the Foreign Language nominees. Certainly recommended, but not always an easy viewing.

"Leviathan" is a David and Goliath story set in a desolate Russian fishing-town.

We've seen it before- a man desperately tries to keep his property being taken away from rich greedy fat cats.

But this is also a strong family drama, a tale of friendship, betrayal, corruption, hope, hopelessness...

Impressive acting overall, the very slow paced narrative and almost no music besides two fitting Philip Glass pieces make this a movie to remember.

The cinematography also deserves a mention, there are countless wonderfully framed scenes.

Excellent slow burning drama.

"All power comes from God. As long as it suits Him, fear not."

After receiving an Oscar nomination for best foreign film, I finally decided to watch this 140 minute long movie. I was hopeful I was finally going to see Russians not having to play villains, but to my surprise this film attacks its own society and the corruption behind its government and official church. It takes a while to get into but after the slow opening twenty minutes the plot began to hook me and the next two hours flew by as the plot got better and better. Despite being a film that brilliantly attacks the corruption of its own government and society, it does so in a universal way so we can all relate to these issues. Loosely based on the biblical story of Job, we follow the main character go through one injustice after another. Director Andrey Zvyagintsev brilliantly captures the humanity of this working class family who are forced out of their own property by the corrupt local Mayor. It is the universal tale of an everyday man struggling against the injustices of an oppressive system (The Clash's "I Fought the Law" song came to mind several times while watching this film). We get glimpses of hope when a friend of the family comes to their defense and tries to confront the big man by uncovering some dirt from his past, but some interesting twists take place and the family dynamics are shaken. The final fifteen minutes of this film were brilliant and I am glad Zvyaginstsev didn't sell out for an easy or feel good ending. The cinematography is also gorgeous thanks to the beautiful location. The film takes place in a small coastal town near the Barents Sea and we get several amazing shots of the waves crashing into the rocks. The beautiful landscape is a huge contrast with the darkness of the corrupt characters. Leviathan is a brilliant film that works as a social satire. Leviathan is a monstrous sea creature mentioned in the Bible, and it is the perfect title for a film that focuses on a small man facing monstrous obstacles. I was surprised that I ended up enjoying this film as much as I did. I still have a lot of catching up with my foreign films, but so far this is my favorite and my frontrunner for the Oscars.

The performances in this film were also great. Aleksey Serebryakov plays the lead character and he captures the essence and humanity of the hard working class. He has built his own home were he lives with his wife and child working as a mechanic. His wife works at a fish factory. He is desperate and angry for the injustice he is suffering knowing that he is about to lose his home and property. His good friend who is now a lawyer in Moscow has come to his rescue. He is also brilliantly played by Vladimir Vdovichenkov. He is the voice of reason in the film and is always trying to calm down Nikolay who has a strong temper. The corrupt lawyer is played by Roman Madyanov. He makes it easy for the audience to hate him because he represents all the injustice and corruption that we face. Nikolay's wife is played by the beautiful Elena Lyadova and she does a great job of portraying this fragile character. However my favorite supporting performance came from Anna Ukolova who plays a friend of the family and also works with Nikolay's wife. She always has some sarcastic comment about men or officials and she delivers most of the laughs in the movie. Her character helped lighten up the mood at times. The other thing that lightens the mood is the constant drinking in the movie (warning: you might get drunk just by watching them jug down those Vodka bottles). The harsh conditions that these people face force them to find refuge in their alcohol in order to suppress their pain (something many people can relate to as well). What really stands out in this film is that instead of portraying some of the key scenes Zvyaginstev decides to omit them and we are only exposed to the results and its consequences.