This intriguing Russian film was a Best Foreign Language Film nominee at the Academy Awards and a Jury Prize winner at Cannes amongst other film festival awards.
Zhanya and Boris (such great names for a Russian couple) are stuck in a state of lovelessness. They’re selling their apartment, as they’re going through a bitter divorce and still haven’t worked out what to do with their son Alexey.
Boris (Aleksey Rozin) is scared he’ll lose his job, as the boss is a strong Christian. Zhanya (Maryana Spivak) blames him for the divorce and doesn’t care. She wants to move on with her new man, who is wealthy and lavishes her. Boris has a younger woman carrying his next child.
They’re so wrapped up in their own worlds, they forget to look after their young son, Alexey (Matvey Novikov). He’s overheard their angry attempts to flick pass him, and the image of his horrified reaction sticks with me to this day. It’s no surprise he runs away.
The police don’t have the resources to start a search and recommend they use a volunteer group, who are efficient. They both join the search and we’re taken on the search. But there’s no fairytale reconciliation between them, or any easy answers in this.
“Loveless” is the perfect title for this film. It’s in the mood that permeates every scene. It’s obvious, and explained, in the marriage breakdown, but it’s there in almost every character. It’s there in Boris, it’s present in Zhenya’s new man, who misses his daughter. It’s in Zenya’s smartphone obsession. It’s in the dispassionate way the team searches for Alexey, and in the police who can’t help. It’s in every radio and tv broadcast.
It’s also in the way this whole film has been shot, and the way every scene is framed and lit. Director Andrey Zvyagintzev (Leviathan) has put together a visual masterpiece and worked every frame. It’s impressive, and a little slow. But it allows you to savour it all. You could say this is typical of Russian film making.
This is a loveless love letter to Russia from Zvyagintzev and fellow writer Oleg Negin. He says he’s making a statement about our dehumanization and disconnection. This as much about new and old Russia fighting for its soul and innocence, as it is about a bitter divorce. The resolution is more about this observation than resolution. The director’s statement is a powerfully emotive one, if not an entertaining one, but it’s engrossing from its first first sparse scene to the last.
Con’s Score: 3.5 Broken Valentines
Con Nats – On The Screen
