The Return (2003) Vozvrashchenie (original title)

Director:

Andrey Zvyagintsev

Writers:

Vladimir Moiseenko (writer)
Aleksandr Novototskiy-Vlasov

Release Date:

25 June 2003 (Russia)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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:

Boy | Russian | Island | Return | Wilderness

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 27 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Vladimir Garin	...	Andrey
Ivan Dobronravov	...	Ivan
Konstantin Lavronenko	...	Otets
Nataliya Vdovina	...	Mat
Galina Popova	...	Babushka
Aleksey Suknovalov	...	Zavodila
Lazar Dubovik	...	Khuligan
Elizaveta Aleksandrova	...	Ofitsiantka
Lyubov Kazakova	...	Devushka v zerkalakh
Andrey Sumin	...	Chelovek v portu
Aleksey Proshchikin
Viktor Alenin
Stas Orlov
Arseniy Belousov
Sofya Bagdasarova
Arseniy Bagdasarov
Alla Tomasheva
Evgeniy Belyanskiy

Directed by
Andrey Zvyagintsev

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Vladimir Moiseenko		writer
Aleksandr Novototskiy-Vlasov		(as Aleksandr Novototskiy)

Produced by
Andrew Colton	....	executive producer
Elena Kovaleva	....	executive producer
Dmitriy Lesnevskiy	....	producer

Original Music by
Andrey Dergachev

Cinematography by
Mikhail Krichman

Film Editing by
Vladimir Mogilevskiy

Casting by
Geta Bagdasarova
Galina Dovgal

Production Design by
Zhanna Pakhomova

Costume Design by
Anna Bartuli

Makeup Department
Galya Ponomaryova	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Geta Bagdasarova	....	assistant director: actors
Svetlana Dyomina	....	assistant director
Anastasi Torlakyan	....	assistant director (as Anastasiya Torlakyan)
Inga Vasilyeva	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Andrei Khudyakov	....	sound
Dmitri Nagorny	....	sound re-recording mixer

Visual Effects by
Kirill Bobrov	....	digital effects artist
Dmitriy Tokoyakov	....	visual effects supervisor

Stunts
Vladimir Sevostyanikhin	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Aleksandr Bakrin	....	steadicam
Yevgeny Kiryukhin	....	lighting technician
Aleksey Konoplyov	....	gaffer
Denis Konoplyov	....	lighting technician
Aleksey Kozin	....	lighting technician
Vladimir Mishukov	....	still photographer
Aleksey Populov	....	grip
Viktor Saratov	....	camera mechanic
Maksim Shalnyov	....	video equipment operator
Aleksey Shipulin	....	grip

Production Companies

• Ren Film

Distributors

• Frenetic Films (2003-2004) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Lucky Red (2003) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Océan Films (2003) (France) (theatrical)
• Asmik Ace Entertainment (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Filmhouse (2004) (Mexico) (theatrical)
• Kino International (2004) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Lighthouse Pictures (2004) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Movienet (2004) (Germany) (theatrical)
• UGC Films (2004) (UK) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (2004) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2004) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Barbar Film (2004) (Turkey) (all media)
• Gutek Film (2004) (Poland) (all media)
• Kino Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Pelicanfilms (2004) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• With Cinema (2004) (Korea) (all media)
• Atlantic Film (2008) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Contact Film (????) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Distribution Company (????) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• United King Films (????) (Israel) (theatrical)
• Winkler Film (2006) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Cinemateka

Also Known As:

"Vozvrashchenie" - Russia (original 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:

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

Filming Locations:

Ladoga Lake, Russia

Company:

Ren Film

Trivia:

Andrey Zvyagintsev says the four main characters of the film represent the four elements: "Earth is Mother, water is Father... the elder brother, Andrey, is air and Ivan is fire. But if you think it's all different, it is."

Goofs:

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

Quotes:

[first lines]
[on-screen caption: Sunday]
[boy falls in the water, then floats up]
Zavodila:Jump as we agreed! Who climbs down the ladder is a cowardly wanker.
[swims to the shore]
Boy on Tower:Go on, Vityok. You're next.

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

Requiem in re minore K626

Resonates long afterward

This film's power is revealed in the contrast between the events as they play out and the questions generated by the enigmatic final moments. It worked firstly as a mysterious, psychological drama, but once the film had ended, it fit the definition of the term allegory perfectly.

"The Return" makes a compelling case in favor of a poetically complex narrative over the expectations of 'The Hollywood Ending', where life eventually makes some kind of sense. The absence of a father can create a psychological 'presence' for the family, both seen and felt in the emotional interaction of the children. This complex, yet all too human condition is played out here, not as a narrative sleight of hand (The Sixth Sense) but rather as film poetry. Life's hardest truths sit like a stone in the mouth and won't be broken down easily. The characters in this film seem to be struggling with the absence of their father, but doing so with him present.

Visual cues which seem to lead to a metaphorical reading of what's happening are scattered throughout the film. For example, when the the boys see their sleeping father for the first time, he's viewed as Andrea Mantegna's "Dead Christ". The boys dash upstairs immediately afterwords to see if he looks like their father from an old photo. It seems that it's been loosely placed in an old book of engravings - on the page where the angel stays Abraham's hand before he sacrifices his son. Then there is the repeated image of the tower, seeming to both foreshadow and justify a fear of death for the youngest brother. And the mysterious journey to an island, the significance of which changes them all. These don't appear as kitsch cues (as in, "this image stands for this specific idea.") but appear as symbols whose meaning is more poetic than literal. They're tied to the story and can't be extracted. In true Tarkovskian form the filmmaker has bled his symbols of universal references and made them about the characters.

And there's the profoundly enigmatic manner of the father, existing for the two brothers in terms of curt preoccupation, edicts, veiled threats, detachment and blunt instruction. He could very well not be there. This causes both boys to respond to him with a mix of outrage, incredulity and bitterness.

Its a rare film, well worth seeing, if for no other reason than to marvel at the elegiac force of the story, the photography and at the performances that the director managed to coax from his actors. Both the boys in particular are astonishingly subtle. Highly recommended.