The Return film review

certificate_12A

THE RETURN

A sombre affair from start to finish, The Return will certainly satisfy the appetites for those seeking some neo-Russian arthouse fare. Andrey Zvyagintsev's film is not especially long, but spends plenty of time capturing languid and often silent moments, and seeks to understand family connections through the eyes of two young brothers.

Andrey and Vanya are the two teenagers who spend their days in an isolated part of Russia swimming and diving into the beautiful lakes that surround their home. On returning to the house one day, they find a man who claims to be their father. Having not seen him in the ten years since he walked out on the boys and their mother, they are initially wary of this stranger. But when he eventually asks them to accompany him on a long car trip, they accept.

The trio travel through the Russian wilderness, stopping at towns where the charismatic father (Konstantin Lavronenko) has business to do. He picks up the reins of fatherhood all too easily, ordering the kids about until they end up at another lake where they are to take a boat out to a small island to catch fish. The boys comply, but spend most of the time discussing whether or not the man is actually their father.

Once on the island, the man seems intent on retrieving a hidden trunk, which leads us and the boys to believe he may be a criminal, or even a criminal associate of their real father. However, Zvyagintsev keeps the mans' secret hidden and therefore the film take a more cerebral turn. Some will be fascinated by the elliptical and cryptic events depicted before them - others will find it all somewhat headscratchingly puzzlesome. The boys have no memory of their father and only a black and white photograph of him which they frequently compare to the new man.

Tragically Vladimir Garin, who plays the older boy in the film, died shortly after filming wrapped in an accident on one of the very lakes where the picture was shot. This adds an added depth to the film, unfortunately for the wrong reasons, but his charming presence will be remembered in this thoughtful and coldly beautiful work.