Leviathan

[projekktor id=’17351′]

Leviathan is a Russian drama directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev (The Return, Elena). The film had its premiere at Cannes last year where it competed for the Palme D’Or and won the award for Best Screenplay. It also won the Best Foreign Language Film award at the Golden Globes. Leviathan stars Aleksei Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova, Vladimir Vdovichenkov, and Roman Madyanov.

The latest drama from Andrey Zvyagintsev, the acclaimed director of The Return (Venice Film Festival Golden Lion winner and Golden Globe nominee). Kolia (Alexey Serebryakov) lives in a small fishing town near the stunning Barents Sea in Northern Russia. He owns an auto-repair shop that stands right next to the house where he lives with his young wife Lilya (Elena Liadova) and his son Roma (Sergey Pokhodaev) from a previous marriage. The town’s corrupt mayor Vadim Shelevyat (Roman Madianov) is determined to take away his business, his house, as well as his land. First the Mayor tries buying off Kolia, but Kolia unflinchingly fights as hard as he can so as not to lose everything he owns including the beauty that has surrounded him from the day he was born. Facing resistance, the mayor starts being more aggressive…

The fight between Kolia and the mayor is a sort of allegory for the struggle the Russian people feel towards their country. “The arduous alliance between man and the state has been a theme of life in Russia for quite a
long time,” explains Zvyagintsev. “But if my film is rooted in the Russian land, it is only because I feel no kinship, no genetic link with anything else.”

Leviathan is rated 14A.