Leviathan - fsk Kino

The Kola Peninsula on the Barents Sea – this is where Kolya lives with Lilya, his second wife, and Roma, his son from his first marriage, in a house with a workshop offering a wonderful view across the bay. The land has been in his family’s possession for generations, but now the current mayor of the village has realised its value. He wants to buy it and threatens expropriation when Kolya refuses. The car mechanic turns to his old army friend Dmitri, a successful lawyer from Moscow. Should the court case prove unsuccessful, Dmitri still has some information about the mayor up his sleeve. But nothing goes according to plan for Kolya here.

Through striking imagery and small doses of gallows humour, Zvyagintsev (The Return, Golden Lion at Venice 2003) explores corruption, disillusionment and alcoholism – and, of course, the harsh consequences these have on people’s private lives. However, he expressly does not wish to limit this to Russia: “Replace the Orthodox Church with the Catholic Church, and you’re in Italy. A Mexican critic told me, ‘Swap the vodka for tequila, and it’s a Mexican story.’ In fact, the director was inspired to make the film following an incident in Colorado, in which a car mechanic, whose land had been unlawfully seized, used a bulldozer to flatten the town hall and the mayor’s house before taking his own life. However, the winner of the 2015 Golden Globe is Russian enough that Culture Minister Medinsky, referring to *Leviathan*, warned that he would no longer fund films that criticise those in power and “even spit on them”, as well as films that “spread the spirit of hopelessness and meaninglessness in our lives” – and this despite the fact that the film had previously been selected as Russia’s entry for the ‘Foreign Language Oscar’. ‘Leviathan is not merely a pessimistic assessment of contemporary Russia, but also a thoroughly masterful narrative that grows even richer with every detour it takes.’ critic.de