"The Return" *** (out of ****)It was always my intention to review as many films as I can on this blog from different countries. While, it is true I do not review every movie I see, I'm usually trying to review films from countries I haven't yet in an attempt to expose readers to as many international films as I can from countries they may not normally look. Most Americans probably have seen at least one film from France or Italy. When Americans think of Europe, I'm willing to bet, those are the two first countries which come to mind. But how many have seen films from Hungary? Romania? Slovakia? Or in the case of "The Return" (2004), Russia?
It is odd that I haven't reviewed a Russian film yet on this blog. One of my favorite filmmakers is Andrei Tarkovsky, the man Ingmar Bergman called "the greatest". But for all my attempts to expose readers to different types of cinema, somehow Russia was overlooked.
"The Return" is a film about fathers and sons. It is a power struggle between the generations. In this film a father, (Konstantin Zavronenko) returns home after 12 years. His two sons, Andrei (Vladimir Garin) and Ivan (Ivan Dobronravov) are shocked when their mother, (Natalya Vdovina) tells them their father as returned. It is almost as if they didn't realize such a thing existed.
The father offers no explanation to where he has been these past 12 years and strangely his wife never asks him that question. The children as curious, but, even they don't dare ask. Perhaps they feel it will upset him and then they might not see him for another 12 years.
The two boys and the father decide to take a fishing trip. They will be gone for two days. But it is made very clear to the boys the father has other intentions. This trip will either make or break their relationship. The father is a stern man who demands discipline. He orders them to call him "dad" and is not above going to extreme measures to teach them a lesson, such as leaving Ivan to stand outside in the rain while he and Andrei drive off.
The boys react to their father's return in very different ways. Andrei, the oldest, is in reality the more gullible of the two. He does everything his father does says in order to please him. He seems to be in awe of the man. While Ivan is tougher. I doesn't understand why his father has returned. What does he want from them? Ivan wants no part of his father. He has gotten by this long without him, no need to have him around now. It is between these two characters; father and Ivan, where we see a power struggle going on between father and son.
In some ways I was able to relate to this movie as it brought back memories to me. Not memories related to my own experiences but a friend of mine. His parents divorced when he was very young. The father moved to another state. One day the father came back. The father would tell my friend about all the things they will do not that he is back. My friend would become very excited thinking about all of these activities. But in the end they never happened. He would repeatedly tell me what his father told him, and though I was young myself, I knew the father would never come through. I haven't given much thought to my friend or his father, but, watching "The Return" made me think about him again.
"The Return" has an uneasy nature about it. While on the trip we always get the feeling the father will abandon the boys. At one point in the trip he gives them money for the bus so they can go home but at the last minute changes his mind. There doesn't seem to be much of an emotional bonding experience going on between them. The father wants to pretend those 12 years never existed and the boys can't think of anything else.
The film works its way to one chilling, climatic scene. It is the reason we have been watching all this time. It doesn't really answer any of the film's big questions about the father and what exactly he was up to, but, if anything, shows a bond between the brothers and how, even though they may have had an odd, off putting experience with their father, they came away different from when the trip started. They grew up and learned some life lessons. In their father's own way, he made men out of these boys.
"The Return" is a very slow moving film. I'm not sure how many people will get pleasure out of watching it. It is not the kind of film which has much of a mainstream appeal. But it has a hypnotic quality to it. It lulls us while oddly keeping us on edge. Things just don't seem right here. The film makes us question things.
The director of the film Andrei Zvyagintsev has only worked on short films. This is quite an accomplished work for a first time director. It is very mature and suggest a great talent. He seems to have a lot of confidence in his story telling ability and a clear concise vision. I will look forward to seeing more from him in the future.
The script was also written by some newcomers; Vladimir Moiseyenko and Aleksandr Novotosky. They are both working on the screenplay for Nikita Mikhalkov's sequel to his Oscar winning masterpiece, "Burnt by the Sun" (1995).
The performances by the children are probably the best thing about the film. We totally believe they are brothers and their emotions seem sincere. Sadly however this would be Vladimir Garin's one and only film performance. He died before the film's released in an accident, not far from the shooting location. He had a good naturalist quality to himself. Ivan Dobronravov has the same quality. In fact I probably related more to his character. I was a bit like him when I was younger.
The film has won much acclaim winning nominations from the Golden Globes and the Cesar Awards, both for "Best Foreign Language" film as well as winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. "The Return" is a quite, meditative film about the past and growing up. I admire it a lot.
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