Vozvrashcheniye (2003)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Andrei Zvyagintsev

Writers:

Vladimir Moiseyenko (writer)
Aleksandr Novototsky (writer)

Release Date:

25 June 2003 (Russia)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In the remote Russian wilderness, two brothers face a range of new, conflicting emotions when their father--a man they only know through a single photograph--resurfaces.

Plot Keywords:

Russian | Island | Return | Fall From Height | Father Son Estrangement

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 28 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Vladimir Garin	...	Andrey
Ivan Dobronravov	...	Ivan
Konstantin Lavronenko	...	Father
Natalya Vdovina	...	Mother
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yelizaveta Aleksandrova	...	Waitress
Lazar Dubovik	...	Hooligan
Lyubov Kazakova	...	Devushka v zerkalakh
Galina Petrova	...	Grandmother
Aleksei Suknovalov	...	Zavodila
Andrei Sumin	...	Man at Port

Also Known As:

The Return (International: English title) (USA)
Возвращение (Russia)
ïÔÅÃ (Russia) (working title)

Runtime:

105 min | Turkey:99 min (TV version)

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Sweden:11 | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-11 | USA:Unrated | Spain:13 | Australia:PG | UK:12

Filming Locations:

Gulf of Finland, Russia

Company:

Ren Film

Trivia:

Actor Vladimir Garin died on 25 June 2003 (shortly after the shooting of the movie was completed) in the lake not far from the one in which the movie was shot. The news of his death was postponed until much later after the movie's premiere and subsequent success in the Venice Film Festival.

Goofs:

Continuity: On the island, Ivan bandages his hand after it gets injured. In the next shot, the bandage is on his other hand.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 61st Annual Golden Globe Awards (2004) (TV)

A Film Only Russia Could Make

I've seen many emotional films in my life, but I've never seen a film with as much emotional intensity as Vozvrashcheniye. Even though I don't know what it is like to have a distance or missing parent, I feel I've suffered the same feelings that other children in this situation must have.

The emotional content of the film continues if you watch the documentary on the making of the film included in the DVDs extras. This is no ordinary film; the feelings of the director, the cinematographer, the producer, and the personal experiences of each of the actors; words cannot describe the heart every single person put into this film. The insufficiency of words can also be described by the film itself -there isn't a heavy amount of dialogue, and there doesn't need to be (even though for the majority of the film you're screaming at the characters to say something!). To quote from Fyodor Dostoyevsky (a Russian author): "there is immeasurably more left inside than what comes out in words."

This little review doesn't do justice to the film for the same reason. It is for this reason, this insufficiency that words have, why films (like this one) need to be created.