Leviathan, 2014.
Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev.
Starring Aleksey Serebryakov, Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Elena Lyadova and Roman Madyanov.
SYNOPSIS:
In a coastal Russian town, Nikolay is forced to take on the corrupt mayor, when he threatens to demolish his home. His lawyer and best friend Dmitriy, digs up his dirt on the mayor, but that only brings more problems for Nikolay and his family.
Walking out of Leviathan, it’s difficult to talk about it without covering what’s already being said in the countless quotes and star ratings that adorn the posters and any review of the film you’ll ever read. Yes, it’s a tragic domestic drama, and at the same time, it’s a chilling critique of Russia under Putin – but that must have been lost on the country itself, as the Russian Ministry of Culture helped fund it, while refusing it a release not because of its contents, but because of swearing. Any excuse, really. It’s a film that’s epic in scale, from the opening shot of a barren landscape, and the soon to be iconic framing of a literal Leviathan towards the end. Director Andrey Zvyagintsev introduces his characters in an almost impenetrable wave of exposition, delivered in speed read Russian, as Nikolay, his second wife Lilya, his son Roma and lawyer / best friend Dmitriy, fight the mayor, who plans to demolish his house on the coast to make way for something flash and expensive.
A ‘one man against the world’ movie takes a sharp turn to even bigger things when the mayor, frustrated against Nikolay’s refusal to leave, confronts him at his house in the middle of the night while blind drunk. Dmitriy waves him away, and decides that now is the time to confront the mayor with the dirt he’s been keeping on him. To go any further would be to ruin the deep tapestry of Leviathan. Portaying Russia as a desolate wasteland full of the corrupt and lawless that keep the ordinary folk down, it’s full of sly digs at Putin’s regime. From a portrait of Putin in the mayor’s office to a memorable scene which sees Nikolay and his friends bring out portraits of former leaders to use as target practice, there’s probably someone in charge of making sure that Putin never sees the film for fear of reprisal. But it’s not just about the satire. Nikolay isn’t exactly a perfect individual, no one in the film is. From arguments with his wife and the copious amounts of vodka that he consumes throughout the film (watching him down a bottle in one shot will turn your stomach), actor Aleksey Serebryakov portrays him as a tortured soul who can’t, or doesn’t, want to deal with the problems he has in the ‘proper way’. If it was up to him, he’d probably just sit on the porch with a bottle of vodka and his rifle until the bulldozers came.
And then there’s the religious overtones. In Leviathan, God watches over all, even the corrupt mayor, who regularly visits a priest, looking to the church for advice on how to deal with Nikolay, resorting only to his position of power when presented with damning evidence of corruption by Dmitriy. Winner of Best Film at London Film Festival earlier in the year, it’s a shoe in for the Foreign Language Oscar and one of the most important films you’ll see all year.
Leviathan is released in cinemas Friday 7th November 2014.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Matthew O’Donnell
Originally published November 7, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
