Nikolay is a short tempered man fighting an unlawful seizure of his property by the corrupt Mayor, Vadim Shelevyat for a meagre sum compared to the actual value. He brings in his friend Dimitri from Moscow to represent him after two of his earlier appeals got turned down. Things are no different this time as he gets struck down again, but Dmitri has dug up some dirt on Vadim and blackmails him to pay Nikolay the actual value for his property if he were to keep the dirt under the mat. How the life of Nikolay takes a big turn from then on due to unexpected personal mishaps is what leads up to the end of the movie.
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Language:
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Russian
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Running Time:
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140 min
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Rating:
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R
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Release date:
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5 February 2015
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Directed by:
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Andrey Zvyagintsev
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Produced by:
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Alexander Rodnyansky
Sergey Melkumov
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Written by:
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Andrey Zvyagintsev
Oleg Negin
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Starring:
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Aleksei Serebryakov
Elena Lyadova
Vladimir Vdovichenkov
Roman Madyanov
Sergey Pokhodaev
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Music by:
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Philip Glass
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Shot by:
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Denis Lenoir
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Edited by:
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Anna Mass
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Distributed by:
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Sony Pictures Classics
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What’s Hot
- The wide and far reaching frames conceived by Mikhail Krichman really create that sense of hollow within the lead characters going through emotional turmoil. The cinematography is taken to higher levels by a host of single shot sequences with many of them running into minutes showcasing the amount of dedicated effort put in planning them to perfect execution.
- Aleksei Serebryakov enacts the impertinent Nikolay(Kolya) with such effortless accuracy and simply nails the role with all of his experience. The totally polar opposite traits of Kolya that are brought out towards the end of the movie are heart wrenching and backed by crucial, emotional performances by Vladimir Vdovichenkov as Dimitri and Elena Lyadova as Lilia.
- Andrey Zvyagintsev as a director puts together a wide array of intricate family and heritage values to build the Kolya household. His dialogues bear a similar impact, especially those between Liliya and Kolya’s son which are so blunt and to the point. The faceoff between Dimitri and Vadim is another place where the dialogues visibly drive the situation.
- The screenplay has a good feel to it as the movie starts off with a legal tussle driving it. When we think this will end up as a battle between David and Goliath slugging it on and off the courtroom, cometh the twist which is totally unanticipated. The way that particular incident is downplayed, yet strategically transforms the course of the screenplay was a pleasant surprise.
What’s Not
- The twist in the story which made the screenplay more pronounced and interesting however made way for a blunt ending to the core track of the first half which had absolutely no relevance to the way the second half shaped up. This seemed like watching two loosely coupled stories in one movie with only a common cast to bind them.
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Verdict
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