the Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev

i think Cannes 2014 big-prize-winners captured the most important european filmmakers making movies today.

Leviathan should have won though.

Haven't seen this one yet; liked The Return. Elena even better.

Preferred The Return to Leviathan, which was a little too long, and grew increasingly heavy-handed in the last third (ie convenient meeting with priest who explains the religious metaphor), though I enjoyed the comedy of the courtroom and the hunting trip, and of course the locations are glorious. Haven't seen Elena or The Banishment.

found it hard to connect with leviathan. maybe because i was more in the mood for elf than a 3 hour drama on xmas eve but it seemed like two films stitched together. first half about beauraucratic tedium, the other about his marriage. the whole thing was a bit too heavy handed but also a bit obscure at times, and leaving a little too much hanging in the air (or maybe im not au fait enough with russian politics). some great funny/tragic scenes though - could have done with more of them.

basically i found this to be about as satisfying last last years cannes fave, beyond the hills. winter sleep was better... though even that was almost like a parody of cannes winners.

I loved leviathan, and I saw interstellar the same day which made it seem even better in comparison. Seems like we're pitting him against ceylan? I didn't catch winter sleep but Anatolia was my favourite film that year so I imagine I'll like ws more than this

/enlightening

not doing any pitting unless olives are involved

god i hate it when everyone seems to love a big award winning film and you go and see it and just find it underwhelming.

or maybe im just more honest :P

happens to me all the time.

though i feel kind of bad for the guy who watched "brighter summer day" w/ me and afterwards was like "what's the big deal?"

(that's one of those "i don't even know you" moments btw)

although i've been that guy, too, in other contexts. that sarah polley movie about alzheimers left me totally cold, and my movie companion was very moved--crying, even. similar situation with hirokazu kore-eda's "nobody knows."

Who hasn't been that guy?

it is weird to me that somebody can watch all four hours of brighter summer day and respond with a shrug. i mean, that movie has so much going for it, and so much going on /in/ it, that it seems really willful to be indifferent to it. but chacun a son gout etc.

similar situation with hirokazu kore-eda's "nobody knows."

― I dunno. (amateurist), Tuesday, January 6, 2015 6:35 PM (5 hours ago)

i literally don't even know you

still walking made my eyes wet but i gave it to my mum thinking she would be able to relate and she was pretty much like 'it was quite good, yes'

Leviathan takes the risk of any movie filmed with a wider canvas and a didactic sensibility at its core, but it's it's good.

I preferred Elena because it makes its intentions known rather quickly, if that makes sense.

ehhh this was quite good. not 1/10 the film winter sleep is, but an unfair comparison & they're plainly doing different things

very heavy-handed & hollywood with its metaphors & symbolism. also why make all the characters so goddamn unlikeable? i suppose it's trying to say that not only is the russian legal system corrupt, but its religion, its family life, etc...yeah ok we get there's a great sickness in your country, a 'leviathan'...what now? more vodka?

what it had going for it was righteousness, and it least it had that. on a side-note, feels like ceylan, zvyagintsev etc are trying to apply modern standards of progressive social thought to nations with extant patriarchal traditions on the broadest canvas, which is nice to see

leviathan is basically putin-hater bait. so basically, westerner-bait.

type of thing many writers love - an allegorical state of the nation movie

yeah I mean if only more pro-Putin propaganda would come these shores we could save the souls of the tastemakers.

lol. not saying i want that, just that im just sceptical of films that pander. whether thats to propagandaists, or left leaning liberals.

No more foreign films for you then.

apart from japanese cartoons and asian horror.

So a British filmmaker expressing an anti-austerity viewpoint would be pandering to Greek viewers?

not sure about that comparison, but putin/russia is more loaded than a filmmaker taking shots at our government, just because of the history we have with russia. people LOVE that kind of stuff, anything that confirms their bias against another country/culture, etc.

but i do wonder, if when films like the selfish giant are shown elsewhere, if people watching them watch them and say 'its a film about england!' (which of course it is, but it just gets a tad boring, whenever a foreign film gets reviewed, and automatically, someone chips in with the 'its a film about ___ [insert country]' as if the film summarises an entire nation in 90 mins.. obv filmmakers love to make it seem that their work IS indeed summarising an entire nation in 90 mins, or more likely 145 mins).

people LOVE that kind of stuff, anything that confirms their bias against another country/culture, etc.

What 'people'? Where have these 'people' expressed this belief - on what basis are you making this judgement?

Rather than basically accusing Zvyaginstev of making a film in bad faith (which again, you can't possibly know for certain), why not consider the possibility that he made a film critical about Putin because, just maybe, he's actually disturbed about what's happening in his own country right now.

I haven't seen Leviathan as it happens. However, I spend half of the time at the cinema (if not more) watching ppl make films where they don't like what is happening in the places they come from.

I am prepared to trust the filmmaker to a point, in that this is the best they can do, but I also watch knowing that any problems with their position will come out in the tale they tell.

this movie wasn't very sympathetic to the landowner either, nor his lawyer friend - its sympathy was reserved for the two characters who go to the shore and confront the Leviathan. it was shooting at a great deal more than Putin - Russian society as a whole, really

I have been ignoring all the reviews because I thought it was that bleak fishing doc from a couple of years back.

that bleak fishing doc is AMAZING and should be watched

new one just opened in NYC

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/loveless-2017

upcoming retro:

https://www.moma.org/calendar/film/3909?locale=en

I've seen all of his films now, and I think Loveless may be the best. Just like in Elena and Leviathan, he's underlining certain points about society and human behaviour in thick black marker, but the portrayal of the parents, despite being cutting, is very calm and lucid. I think he was able to go beyond the moralistic tone of those earlier films into a more compassionate portrayal of the characters.