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15 items from 2012
Elena - Movie Review
19 May 2012 8:32 AM, PDT | Monsters and Critics | See recent Monsters and Critics news »
Legendary Russian director Andrei Zvyagintsev creates a great film noir. With a screenplay by Oleg Negin and score by Phillip Glass .Elena. is a masterpiece of the understated film noir. Crows call out warning cries off-screen and barely perceptible low frequency rumbles travel through the floor as Elena slips further and further into a murderous abyss. The low frequency rumbles are either the gathering clouds of a horrific thunderstorm being contemplated by Zeus himself or the earthquake of Elena.s moral underpinnings tearing and wrenching at their foundations. The deed is done, the crows cry, her train hits and kills a man and his horse. The lights in the block go out, the grandchild naps fitfully on the »
- Ron Wilkinson
Elena - Tribeca Film Festival Movie Review
19 May 2012 8:32 AM, PDT | Monsters and Critics | See recent Monsters and Critics news »
Legendary Russian director Andrei Zvyagintsev creates a great film noir. With a screenplay by Oleg Negin and score by Phillip Glass .Elena. is a masterpiece of the understated film noir. Crows call out warning cries off-screen and barely perceptible low frequency rumbles travel through the floor as Elena slips further and further into a murderous abyss. The low frequency rumbles are either the gathering clouds of a horrific thunderstorm being contemplated by Zeus himself or the earthquake of Elena.s moral underpinnings tearing and wrenching at their foundations. The deed is done, the crows cry, her train hits and kills a man and his horse. The lights in the block go out, the grandchild naps fitfully on the bed »
- Ron Wilkinson
Interview: 'Elena' Director Andrei Zvyagintsev Talks Changed Ending, Favorite Filmmakers
17 May 2012 2:45 PM, PDT | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
Cinephiles, unite! The name Andrei Zvyagintsev is relatively unknown on these shores, as his remarkable debut "The Return" quietly came and went (though it is now on Netflix Instant -- Go!) and his tremendous sophomore effort "The Banishment" never saw a proper release in the West. That's all about to change with "Elena," his third and most refined piece of work, which not only saw a premiere at Cannes Film Festival but also left with the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize. Zvyagintsev's aesthetic might make him seem like Andrei Tarkovsky II, but his voice is still his own, eschewing his mentor's liberal use of magic for more grounded, realistic stories.
Set in contemporary Russia, the film follows the titular character (Nadezhda Markina) as she cares for her wealthy second husband Vladimir (Andrey Smirnov) in a gigantic penthouse apartment, in a high-class area of the country. By contrast, Elena's jobless »
- Christopher Bell
Andrei Zvyagintsev Talks 'Elena,' His Rebirth and Philip Glass
17 May 2012 10:45 AM, PDT | Indiewire | See recent Indiewire news »
Just off of a plane from Russia, Andrei Zvyagintsev seemed nervous about showing his latest work, "Elena" to American audiences. "How did you react to the first seven minutes?" he asked, curiously. "I'm sure Americans are used to something a little more... dynamic." He shouldn't be so concerned. The first shot in the film is a lengthy look at a branch outside the house of the fascinating eponymous character, who launches a desperate plot to help her children. This meditative story evolves into a stylish, class-sensitive update on film noir, bursting with high stakes and star-making performances. "Elena" opened at Film Forum on Wednesday, and Bam Cinematek also just hosted a program of Zvyagintsev's work called "The Next Director." Indiewire caught up with the filmmaker to talk about his latest work and how he got his start. When did you decide to make films? I fell in love with films because I was an actor. »
- Austin Dale
Film Of The Week: Elena
16 May 2012 3:01 PM, PDT | GreenCine Daily | See recent GreenCine Daily news »
by Vadim Rizov
Elena is didactic filmmaking and in interviews, director Andrei Zvyagintsev hasn't been shy in explicitly stating his fundamental criticism of the contemporary Russian underclass. "This is how they will behave," he noted in an interview conducted at the film's Cannes premiere. "At one point we considered calling the film The Invasion of the Barbarians." "They" are the title character's (Nadezhda Markina) son Sergei (Aleksey Rozin) and his family, notably grandson Sasha (Igor Orgutsov), whose grades are so bad he'll end up serving mandatory army time unless the right college officials are bribed. Former nurse Elena wants far wealthier second husband Vladimir (Andrey Smirnov) to provide the money, but he refuses on angry principle, insisting military discipline is just the right education for a directionless young man.
The harshest dialogue's always closest to the director's unambiguous public statements. Vladimir's daughter Katya (Elena Lyadova) is a disappointment ("a goddamned hedonist, »
Elena | Review
15 May 2012 1:50 PM, PDT | ioncinema | See recent ioncinema news »
A Touch of Class: Zvyagintsev’s latest slow burn reaches a masterful boil.
Over the past decade, one of the most celebrated new filmmakers to come out of Russia is Andrei Zvyagintsev, with his highly celebrated 2003 debut The Return, and the equally acclaimed 2007 film The Banishment. A filmmaker with a knack for teasing tense thrills out of seemingly banal human relationships, he returns with his best work yet, Elena. A class clash potboiler, it’s a simple but deliciously hypnotic narrative about wealth and the queer way it tends to push people out of their comfort zones.
We’re introduced to Elena (Nadezhda Markina), wife and caretaker to Vladimir (Andrey Smirnov), a couple in their mid-sixties comfortably living in an expensive apartment in Moscow. Through their interactions, we learn that they each have children from a different marriage and that Elena used to be Vladimir’s nurse and, thus, »
- Nicholas Bell
Elena Movie Review
12 May 2012 5:47 AM, PDT | ShockYa | See recent ShockYa news »
Title: Elena Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev Cast: Yelena Lyadova, Nadezhda Markina and Aleksey Rozin Starting with an extremely long take of the outside of a luxury apartment, filmmaker Andrei Zvyagintsev almost challenges the audience to pay attention to every detail in the frame of his film “Elena.” As the shot pushes on, it’s as if the filmmaker is telling the audience not to go inside, not to get involved with the rich drama that is happening, the shot is the point of no return for the audience. This invokes so many ideas about voyeurism and the nature of human interactions; smartly Andrei Zvyagintsev builds upon these ideas once we get inside. [ Read More ] »
- Rudie Obias
The 2012 Seattle Film Festival Line-Up is the Best I've Seen in Years
27 April 2012 12:07 PM, PDT | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »
I can't remember a time I went to the Seattle International Film Festival (Siff) press launch and looked over the list of films and saw so many I was interested in seeing. The claim to fame for over the years is to call it the largest and most-highly attended festival in the United States. This is a fact I've often taken issue with as I don't equate quantity with quality. Granted, there has been a large number of quality features to play the fest over the years, including Golden Space Needle (Best Film) winners such as Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), My Life as a Dog (1987), Trainspotting (1996), Run Lola Run (1999), Whale Rider (2003) and even recent Best Director winner, Michel Hazanavicius's Oss 117: Nest of Spies in 2006. That said, looking over this year's crop of films I see a lot of films I will be doing my absolute best to see. »
- Brad Brevet
Yes, 'John Carter' Was a Hit in Russia. Here's Why.
27 April 2012 7:00 AM, PDT | Indiewire | See recent Indiewire news »
Alexander Rodnyansky has been a TV and film producer in Russia for decades. His most recent film, the Andrei Zvyagintsev-directed drama "Elena," won a special jury prize at the 2011 Festival de Cannes, and he has wrapped the American-made indies "Goat Island," from D.J. Caruso, and "Jayne Mansfield's Car," from Billy Bob Thornton. His next projects, which he also is financing, are the Robert Rodriguez genre sequels "Machete Kills" and "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For," both of which start filming this year. Despite his prolific output, Rodnyansky doesn't much like what he sees in the predilections of Russian moviegoers -- enough so that he has written an impassioned essay decrying what he describes as their "apathy" when it comes to confronting anything at the cinema that actually reflects the reality of Russian life. In Moscow theaters, the fantasy eye candy of "John Carter" and animated hijinks of »
- Alexander Rodnyansky
Film Forum Announces Summer Premieres Preview
3 April 2012 9:45 AM, PDT | Indiewire | See recent Indiewire news »
Film Forum, one of NYC's finest art houses, has announced its Summer premieres slate. Highlights include Andrei Zvyagintsev's "Elena," Matthew Akers' "Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present," and Mads Matthiesen's "Teddy Bear." Full preview reprinted below: May 9 – 15 Patience (After Sebald) Directed by Grant Gee UK 2011 82 Mins. In English Cinema Guild W.G. Sebald (1944-2001), one of the 20th century’s greatest literary figures, wrote evocatively of memory and exile, destruction and decay; his legion of fierce admirers compare him to Virginia Woolf, Proust, and Rousseau. A.O. Scott writes in The New York Times: “Patience (After Sebald) is, to some degree, a survey of the work of the German writer W.G. Sebald, »
- Austin Dale
Elena by Andrei Zvyagintsev
31 January 2012 10:49 PM, PST | DearCinema.com | See recent DearCinema.com news »
Andrei Zvyagintsev is one of the most interesting among active filmmakers today. He has only made three feature films. Each of those three films is built, to put it in literary terms, on the scale of a novella rather than an epic novel. Each film delves with aspects of family bonding—or at least that provides the least common factor for the tales, only to multiply and enlarge on aspects of an individual’s life beyond the family, subjects often relating to psychology, politics, sociology and religion. And that is what makes any Zvyagintsev film interesting—its universality and its inward looking questions, all open ended for the viewer to ponder over after the movie gets over. And Elena is true to that spirit.
Famous Russian novels (later made into films) often had for their titles mere names—Anna Karenina or Dr Zhivago. But those novels went beyond those ordinary names. »
- Jugu Abraham
Jens Assur Is 2012 Sundance/Nhk International Filmmaker Award Winner
27 January 2012 4:16 PM, PST | Indiewire | See recent Indiewire news »
Sundance Institute and Nhk (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) have announced Jens Assur, director of the upcoming film, "Close Far Away," as winner of the 2012 Sundance/Nhk International Filmmaker Award. Created in 1996 to celebrate 100 years of cinema, the annual award recognizes and supports a visionary filmmaker on his or her next film. Sundance Institute staff works closely with the winner throughout the year, providing creative and strategic support through the development, financing and production of their films. Two films previously supported by this award are screening at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival: "Beasts of the Southern Wild," by Benh Zeitlin, and "Elena," by Russian filmmaker Andrei Zvyagintsev. "Close Far Away" is a noted by the festival as a "compelling contemporary drama thriller of individuals in Africa and Europe who are put in vulnerable situations and whose actions carry personal and global »
Sundance 2012 Preview: 10 Must-See Festival Favorites Hitting Park City
18 January 2012 9:00 AM, PST | The Film Stage | See recent The Film Stage news »
While Sundance Film Festival is a wonderful place for discovery, programmers still curate a small, but wonderful line-up of festival favorites. From our journeys around the film festival circuit the last year we are here to let you know what should be on your radar. Most of these can be found in the Spotlight check, but there are also shorts and midnight films to be seen! Check them out below, with help from our own Nick Newman. We’ve also partnered with other sites to give you an extensive overview of coverage, so check out the links below!
10. This Must Be The Place (Paolo Sorrentino)
Synopsis: A bored, retired rock star sets out to find his father’s executioner, an ex-Nazi war criminal who is a refugee in the U.S
Why It Should Be On Your Radar: Reactions were mixed at its Cannes premiere this year (our review here »
- jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
First Look 2012. Supplementary Roundup
9 January 2012 2:12 AM, PST | MUBI | See recent MUBI news »
As a followup to Jesse Cataldo's guide to the inaugural edition of the Museum of the Moving Image series First Look, which runs through January 15, when it closes with Raya Martin's Buenas Noches, España (he'll be there — and that's the trailer above, of course), I thought I'd round up a few supplementary items, starting with Eric Hynes's overview in the Voice, where he notes that First Look "already has a discernible identity":
In each their own way, the invited filmmakers approach film as a terrain for formal dexterity. They hail from all over the world—representing 11 countries and four continents — but nationality seems well beside the point. These are films in which borders are crossed as a matter of course: An Italian filmmaker tails a hero of the Armenian avant-garde (The Silence of Peleshian), while a Belgian master conjures Malaysia in the Cambodian jungle (Almayer's Folly); dramas resemble »
Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2012: #57. István Szabó's The Door
6 January 2012 9:00 AM, PST | ioncinema | See recent ioncinema news »
#57. The Door Director: István SzabóWriter(s): Szabó and Andrea VészitsProducers: Jenõ Hábermann and Sándor Söth Distributor: Rights Available The Gist: Based on the novel by Magda Szabó, this is a story of a special relationship between two women, a writer and her maid...(more) Cast: Helen Mirren and Martina Gedeck List Worthy Reasons...: Look no further than this Hungarian-German co-production for perhaps the under the radar acting performance of 2012. It could back to back years where the relationship with maid turns out to be material worth exploring (Andrei Zvyagintsev's Elena was gold) as veteran Oscar-winning Hungarian director István Szabó managed to lasso Helen Mirren in what will be known as her most unglamorous role to date. Release Date/Status?: Main Competition at Cannes appears likely as Szabo has been a frequent guest and winner at the fest (Mephisto). »
2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003
15 items from 2012
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