The Return (2003)

In the Russian wilderness, two brothers face a range of new, conflicting emotions when their father - a man they know only through a single photograph - resurfaces.

Director:

Andrey Zvyagintsev

Writers:

Vladimir Moiseenko, Aleksandr Novototskiy-Vlasov (as Aleksandr Novototskiy)

Stars:

Vladimir Garin, Ivan Dobronravov, Konstantin Lavronenko

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 31 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

The events of the film unfold over six days and tell about the mysterious journey of a strange man and his two teenage sons who had never seen him before. Vanya and Andrey, for how long they remember, lived with their mother, who once told them that their father was a pilot. But one ordinary Monday, dad appears in their house and takes the brothers on a hike to a small island in the middle of a forest lake.

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Plot Keywords:

male protagonist | boy | russian | russia | wilderness | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Kino International (English) Lighthouse Pictures [Singapore]

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

25 June 2003 (Russia)

Also Known As:

The Return

Filming Locations:

Russia

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$19,795, 8 February 2004, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$502,028, 5 September 2004

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ren Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 99 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the original script named "Ty" (a Russian singular "You"), the two brothers were 40-year-old men named Archil and David who were in New York, recalling their childhood, i.e. the story was supposed to be told in flashbacks.

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Goofs

When Ivan is sitting in the car, the camera pans around the car (before we see him grab the binoculars and begin to use them) - as it pans past the triangular car window you can see the camera reflected in it.

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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.

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Connections

Referenced in Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You (2011)

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Soundtracks

VI Benedictus
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

User Reviews

A Film Only Russia Could Make

I've seen many emotional films in my life, but I've never seen a film with as much emotional intensity as Vozvrashcheniye. Even though I don't know what it is like to have a distance or missing parent, I feel I've suffered the same feelings that other children in this situation must have.

The emotional content of the film continues if you watch the documentary on the making of the film included in the DVDs extras. This is no ordinary film; the feelings of the director, the cinematographer, the producer, and the personal experiences of each of the actors; words cannot describe the heart every single person put into this film. The insufficiency of words can also be described by the film itself -there isn't a heavy amount of dialogue, and there doesn't need to be (even though for the majority of the film you're screaming at the characters to say something!). To quote from Fyodor Dostoyevsky (a Russian author): "there is immeasurably more left inside than what comes out in words."

This little review doesn't do justice to the film for the same reason. It is for this reason, this insufficiency that words have, why films (like this one) need to be created.