The Return (2003)
| The Return | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Andrey Zvyagintsev |
| Produced by | Yelena Kovalyova Dmitry Lesnevsky |
| Written by | Vladimir Moiseyenko Aleksandr Novototsky |
| Starring | Vladimir Garin Ivan Dobronravov Konstantin Lavronenko Natalia Vdovina |
| Music by | Andrei Dergatchev |
| Cinematography | Mikhail Krichman |
| Edited by | Vladimir Mogilevsky |
Release date |
|
Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | Russia |
| Budget | below US$500,000 |
| Box office | US$4.4 million |
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Russian drama film The Return (Vozvrashcheniye), Andrey Zvyagintsev’s 2003 cinematic debut, tells a story of two young brothers who are abruptly confronted with their father’s return after twelve years of his absence. Following his return, the three embark on a road trip to a remote island that forces the brothers to push their emotional limits and usurp their adulthood in the face of their father’s threatening presence. The film, after receiving a wealth of positive criticism, was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 61st Golden Globes.[1][circular reference] and was ranked the 80th greatest film of the 21st century in a 2016 BBC critics poll[2][circular reference].
Background[edit]
Following the collapse of the Soviet era, the Russian film industry encountered significant difficulties as it became no longer funded or controlled by the state. As producers and directors struggled to find their own funding, the number of films produced dropped significantly. However, the early 2000s were a time of domestic and international recovery for the industry, which is exemplified by the 2003 release of The Return.[3]
The Return was filmed on and around Lake Ladoga in the Gulf of Finland. While the film’s exact budget remains undisclosed by the director and producers, interviews with them hint that the budget was well under $500,000[4].
Following the end of filming and two months before the film’s debut, actor Vladimir Garin tragically drowned at 16 years old in the same lake where many of the scenes were filmed. Director Andrey Zvygintsev paid tribute to Garin in an emotional acceptance speech after receiving the Golden Lion for best picture at the 2003 Venice Film Festival.
Cast[edit]
- Vladimir Garin - Andrey
- Ivan Dobronravov - Ivan (Vanya)
- Konstantin Lavronenko - Otets (father)
- Nataliya Vdovina - Mat (mother)
- Galina Popova - Babushka
Plot[edit]
The Return, set in contemporary Russia, features brothers Ivan, aka Vanya, (Ivan Dobronravov) and Andrei (Vladimir Garin), who have grown deeply attached to each other as a result of living a fatherless childhood. The film opens on a note of tension as young Vanya is peer pressured into jumping from a high ladder into the ocean, but is too afraid to do so and is subsequently taunted by his friends, resulting in a fight with his brother. This scene, which foreshadows the emotional struggle Vanya faces throughout the film as he attempts to cultivate resilience and establish his manhood, leads directly into the film’s defining chain of events. The plot gains momentum as brothers Andrey and Vanya return home and are faced by their father’s sudden, unexplained return after twelve years of his absence.
The boys’ father (Konstantin Lavronenko), a man characterized by a mysterious aura and a stoic demeanor, gives no explanation for his absence. Rather, he immediately proposes a weekend-long fishing trip. While Andrei is initially enthusiastic about his father’s return and the trip, Vanya is reluctant to welcome his father and feels resentment toward this man he views as a stranger.
As the three embark on the road trip, the time they spend alone quickly shines light on the father’s ambiguous persona. While his sudden willingness to return into his sons’ lives implies that he is remorseful for his absence and wants to fulfill his fatherly obligations, he treats the boys harshly and remains apathetic as he attempts to discipline and subdue them. The brothers are torn between accepting and resisting their father’s authority, as they are aware he is their biological father yet regard him as a stranger after growing up in the wake of his absence.
The father’s motives become more ambiguous as he inexplicably pushes the boys’ limits beyond what is expected from a normal fishing trip, tasking them to push their car in the pouring rain and row a boat to an island in the middle of a storm. Over the course of the weekend, the three camp on the island, a remote location where the beach meets the meadow and an ominous observatory tower stands before them. The boys, curious about the father’s intentions, follow him to an isolated shack in the meadow where he retrieves a small, buried trunk. This adds to the boys’ mistrust of the father and furthers the ambiguity of his motives.
Later, Vanya’s move of ultimate revolt-- stealing his father’s knife-- leads to a conflict between the boys and father in which the father strikes Andrei. Vanya angrily stands up to his father, then runs into the forest and to the top of the observatory tower in a scene that alludes to the film’s opening in which Vanya fearfully stands on top of a high tower. In this final climb up the tower, Vanya symbolically establishes his adulthood and courage in the face of his father’s wrath. The father, in a threatening state of near-mania, follows Vanya to the top of the tower and tries to reason with him. Vanya, becoming more stressed by the father’s presence, threatens to jump. As the father tries to reach out to him, he falls off the tower to his death.
The boys, immensely distressed at their father’s sudden death, take his body to the shore, load him into a boat, and sail away from the island. Before they can reach the shore, the boat sinks with their father’s body and the mysterious box inside. The boys drive away in their father’s car, leaving the father behind.
Director Andrey Zvyagintsev[edit]
After working as a struggling actor in Moscow from 1992 to 2000, Zvyagintsev did not begin his directing career until a friend of his gave him a job as a director for a Russian TV series. The series was on REN TV, famous for dramas and crime shows. Catching the eye of the producers at REN TV, Zvyagintsev was offered the position of directing The Return (2003). The film initially had a very low budget and not much promise to some, but with Zvyagintsev’s artistic eye, natural ability, and the remarkable talent of cinematographer Mikhail Krichman, the film became an international sensation. The film was widely renowned around the world, receiving the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, Golden Eagle at Cannes, as well as other wins and nominations. Zvyagintsev gained significant notoriety after his debut film, especially since his film was the first Russian film to win the Golden Lion since Close to Eden (1991). He went on to direct just three other films; The Banishment (2007), Elena (2011), and Leviathan (2014). These films all received awards, nominations, and critical acclaim. His impressive work has made Zvyagintsev well-recognized in the film industry.
Reception[edit]
The Return received a generally positive critical response, both nationally and internationally. The film garnered a number of positive reviews from film critics and journalists, and was regarded as “renew[ing] the grand tradition of Russian cinematic mysticism epitomized by Andrei Tarkovsky" by Dave Kehr, critic for The New York Times[5]. It was also ranked the 80th-greatest film of the 21st century in a 2016 BBC critics' poll.[6]. As of May 09, 2021, the film has a rating of 96% on review website Rotten Tomatoes[7]and is labelled as a “suspenseful but perplexing thriller” according to the critics’ consensus. The film also has an average rating of 8/10 on IMDb and a universal acclaim score of 82 out of 100 on Metacritic[8]
Accolades[edit]
The Return has won the following national and international awards:
| Awards | Year | Category | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| BBC Four World Cinema Awards | 2005 | SBBC Four World Cinema Award | Won |
| European Film Awards | 2004 | European Discovery of the Year (Fassbinder Award) | Won |
| Golden Globe Awards | 2004 | Best Foreign Language Film Russia | Nominee |
| Palm Springs International Film Festival | 2004 | Best Foreign Film | Won |
| Venice Film Festival | 2003 | Golden Lion | Won |
| Best First Film, CinemAvvenire Award | |||
| Best Debut Film, Luigi De Laurentiis Award | |||
| SIGNIS Award | |||
| Sergio Trasatti Award | |||
| Association of Polish Filmmakers Critics Awards | 2004 | Best Foreign Film | Won |
| Golden Eagle Awards | 2004 | ||
| Best Feature Film | Won | ||
| Best Cinematography | |||
| Best Sound | |||
| Best Director | Nominee | ||
| Best Film Editing | |||
| Bodil Awards | 2005 | Best Non-American Film | Nominee |
| Buster International Children’s Film Festival | 2004 | Grand Prix | Won |
| Cezar Awards | 2004 | Best Foreign Film | Won |
| Guldbagge Awards | 2004 | Best Foreign Film | Won |
| London Critics Circle Film Awards | 2005 | Foreign Language Film of the Year | Nominee |
| Russian Guild of Film Critics | 2004 | Best Film | Won |
| Best Director of Photography | |||
| Best Debut Film | |||
| Nika Awards | 2004 | Best Film | Won |
| Best Cinematography | |||
| Discovery of the Year | Nominee | ||
| Best Director | |||
| Polish Film Awards | 2005 | Best European Film, Eagle | Nominee |
References[edit]
- ↑ "61st Golden Globe Awards. Wikipedia. Retrieved May 10, 2021".
- ↑ "BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century. Wikipedia. Retrieved May 10, 2021".
- ↑ "McSweeney, T. (2013) The end of Ivan's childhood in Andrei Zvyagintsev's The Return (2003). International Journal of Russian Studies, 2. Retrieved May 10, 2021".
- ↑ "Abeel, E. (2004) Return of the Prodigal Father; Andrey Zvyagintsev Talks About "The Return". Indiewire. Retrieved May 10, 2021".
- ↑ "Kehr, D. (2004). FILM REVIEW; A Frayed Family, an Ominous Fishing Trip. The New York Times. Retrieved 10 May, 2021".
- ↑ "The 21st Century's 100 greatest films". BBC. August 23, 2016. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
- ↑ "The Return (2003) - Rotten Tomatoes".
- ↑ "The Return (2004) Reviews - Metacritic".
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