RUSSIAN MOVIE REVIEW: LOVELESS

9/10

Some unions are made for reasons other than love. The marriage of Zhenya and Boris   is falling apart. Boris is having a baby with another woman and Zhenya has a rich older lover who can provide for the life she has always dreamed of. The only inconvinience is their son Alyosha. One night the boy hears his parents fighting and disappears the next day. When Zhenya and Boris start a frantic search for their son their conflict deepens, wounds are opened and the final masks are torn off.  How does one carry on in a LOVELESS world?

Russian director Sergey Zvyagentsev is a contradiction. Russian viewers claim that he makes films for Europe and they are very un-Russian with their cold style and unfavorable characters, while the rest of the world sees Russia through the prism of his films. LOVELESS definitely hits the mark while describing Russian middle class, the type of conversations people have, the interests and values. While in LOVELESS all the characters are despicable people, they are universal and it is with a sense of dread you may recognise in some the people you know and even your own less favourable features.

LOVELESS has wonderful cinematography, the story is being told as much through visuals as through the dialogue. Here the camera is detached, coldly observant, many shorts start from afar, slowly moving in onto the scene, some things stay away from view even when the focus is in on them. It is not an easy film to get through, with a running time just over two hours, and there is plenty of heartbreak and anguish on display. While lacking any sort of physical violence, LOVELESS is able to awake the sense of dread similar to the best horror films out there.

Similarly to the last year’s success THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING MISSURI the movie does not give all the answers, and it never is about the missing boy. LOVELESS is about love, its absence and the ones who left behind.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

KOREAN MOVIE REVIEW: MEMOIR OF A MURDERER

Image
8/10 Byung-su is an elderly veterinarian who has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He has a caring daughter who does all she can to make his life easier, and a policemen friend whose name Byung-su forgets from time to time. He also goes to a poetry club (in order to keep his mind exercised) where a lonely widow makes advances at him. But there’s one thing that sets Byung-su apart from the other senior citizens of his little town – he is a serial killer.  When a new wave of killings begin Byung-su starts to suspect that a young man who is dating his daughter is the culprit. Trying to keep the remains of his memories together Byung-su writes extensive journals. But what if his memories are actually real? Losing his grip on reality he goes head to head with the new serial killer in order to protect the only life he cares about in the world – his daughter’s. Before Dexter came around Koreans had excelled in creating charismatic killers as protagonists of the f...
Read more

We'll End Up Together - Nous Finirons Ensemble (French Movie Review)

Image
10/10 Max has a sixtieth birthday coming up. The problem is he is broke, divorced and depressed. When a group of his best friends show up at his doorstep to help him celebrate, he reluctantly agrees to spend a few days with them, but won’t explain what’s going on in his personal life. When ones darkest moments come, will friendship conquer all? Seven years after the breakout success of the film Little White Lies (Les Petits Mouchoirs) comes the long anticipated sequel and it is worth the wait. The success of WE’LL END UP TOGETHER is not in its rather predictable plot, but the chemistry on screen, the characters that we recognise ourselves and our friends in, and the amazing warm atmosphere that makes one believe there’s no problem a good dinner with friends won’t sort out.  Written and directed by much loved French actor and director  Guillaume Canet this movie feels like a welcome return home to those who have seen the original and will also welcome new viewership - t...
Read more

MSFF: DEATH IN BUENOS AIRES (MUERTE EN BUENOS AIRES)

Image
3 1/2 /5 It's year 1980 and we are in Buenos Aires. The wealthy gay man is murdered  and inspector Chaves is on the case. In order to find the culprit he has to plunge into the world of gay nightclubs, drugs and sex. But what is it with the young and handsome officer Gomes, who was the first on the crime scene, and seems to place himself with ease as a mole into a gay community? Is he trying to catch the killer? Or hiding something? As suspicions arise, Chaves is haunted by the feelings he does not understand. Will the fatal attraction to a younger man help him to solve the case, or be his undoing? First time director Natalie Meta is "spot on" on the upbeat atmosphere of the 80s without too much expense. She cleverly uses the pop tunes, over-the-top clothes and many other ingredients to recreate the time. The murder mystery is secondary, and the movie is focused on the relationship between the two men, full of innuendoes and mistrust. The very simple cinema...
Read more