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'The return' weaves relationships, mystery
Thursday, Jun 10, 2004 - 09:59:53 pm CDT
BYL. KENTWOLGAMOTT
At once simple and complex, intimate yet universal, beautiful and bleak, "The Return" is a haunting, powerful film that marks the debut of a brilliant new director and a rebirth of Russian cinema.
The new director is Andrey Zvyagintsev, a former actor who has taken a story about two boys, who must deal with the return of their prodigal father, and crafted it into a picture that has metaphysical meaning to go with its spare, but enveloping narrative.
In doing so, Zvyagintsev draws on the work of his predecessors, such Andrei Tarkovsky, who made the original "Solaris" in the 1970s, and connects back to the earliest Russian filmmakers.
The story of "The Return" is easy to summarize. A pair of brothers, Andrey (Vladimar Garin) and Vanya (Ivan Dobronravov) are living with their mother and grandmother when their father (Konstantin Lavronenko) unexpectedly returns after being away for 12 years.
He immediately loads the boys into his car and takes them on what is supposed to be a fishing trip. But he is clearly on some mysterious, very likely nefarious mission set up by conspiratorial phone calls. But the father never explains what is going on to his boys - or the audience.
Instead, the picture becomes an examination of the journey and of the interaction between the father and sons. Cruel and demanding, the father is willing to humiliate and abuse the boys to get them to do what he wants. Desperate to reconnect with the man he knew when he was a little boy, Andrey does his best to please papa. But Vanya, who's also called Ivan, is resentful, his face becoming twisted with anger the longer he has to deal with the man he must take on faith is his father.
The journey starts at the boys' home, goes through a town and finally ends up on a rain-swept coastline where the trio transfers to a boat. That's about all that needs to be said to describe what happens in "The Return."But it is important to note that the film is full of symbolism and strikingly shot by cinematographer Mikhail Krichman.
While slow to develop, the picture becomes captivating, powered by the performances of the three actors. Young Dobronravov is, in many ways, its emotional center, his angst palpable and conveying the strongest emotion of the three. Garin (who tragically died in a swimming accident after the completion of the movie) had to be just as strong to provide both a foil and a confidant.
Equally as important, Lavronenko was forced to create a distant man, who is a survivor of sorts - he has skills that suggest he might have been a soldier - but can't really relate to his boys.
There are biblical allusions aplenty in "The Return." It's easy to see the father as a harsh, demanding God or to look at the potential sacrifice that hangs over the film in light of the story of Abraham and his sons. But the film also can be analyzed in terms of Russian cultural and political history - the bleakness of its depopulated town and desolate landscape reflecting conditions after the fall of the Soviet Union.
But it is primarily a story of father and sons, of an attempt to find roles for each of the three and of the struggle of two early-adolescent boys to understand how their lives are changing. On that level, "The Return" is universal.
There's not enough action in "The Return" to satisfy those who are firmly entrenched in slam-bang Hollywood movies. Nor is there an easy explanation for everything that happens on screen - another major-studio film convention.
But those who go to see Zvyagintsev's film will not soon forget it or stop thinking about its images and meanings.
ReachL.Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@;journalstar.com.
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Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Cast: Vladimir Garin, Ivan Dobronravov, Konstantin Lavronenko
Rated: Unrated; in Russian with subtitles
Now Showing: Ross
The Reel Story: This story of a pair of boys who have to deal with the return of their father after 12 years is powerful, deep and strikingly shot.
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