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Andrey Zvyagintsev's wonderful debut feature opens with a simple childhood test. A group of boys stand atop a look-out tower on stone pier against a drab Russian sky. Each one jumps, terrified, into the icy water below. The two boys left are brothers Ivan (Ivan Dobronravov) and Andrei (Vladimir Garin) and when the older finally jumps, leaving Ivan on the tower in the shivering cold, it's only his mother who eventually comes to his rescue as the night draws in. It's simplistic scene beautifully shot and outlays the rest of the film effortlessly. The way the young brothers push each other in the early parts of the film makes way for the titular return of the boy's father after a 12 year absence and the planned fishing trip which will reconnect them. The spare setting and their mother's odd complacency about the mysterious reappearance set a tense and disturbing tone and...

Andrey Zvyagintsev's wonderful debut feature opens with a simple childhood test. A group of boys stand atop a look-out tower on stone pier against a drab Russian sky. Each one jumps, terrified, into the icy water below. The two boys left are brothers Ivan (Ivan Dobronravov) and Andrei (Vladimir Garin) and when the older finally jumps, leaving Ivan on the tower in the shivering cold, it's only his mother who eventually comes to his rescue as the night draws in. It's simplistic scene beautifully shot and outlays the rest of the film effortlessly. The way the young brothers push each other in the early parts of the film makes way for the titular return of the boy's father after a 12 year absence and the planned fishing trip which will reconnect them. The spare setting and their mother's odd complacency about the mysterious reappearance set a tense and disturbing tone and...

VENICE, Italy -- The Russian movie The Return by first-time director Andrey Zvyagintsev picked up the Golden Lion, Venice International Film Festival's top prize, at the closing-award ceremony. The movie, a visually poetic drama about two boys whose father returns after a 10-year absence to take them on a mysterious journey to a desolate island, won much praise from critics during the 11-day festival and has attracted the attention of several U.S. buyers. It is the first time a debut director has won the Golden Lion since Macedonian director Milcho Manchevski won with Before the Rain in 1994. Zvyagintsev's win will no doubt invite comparisons to his celebrated compatriot and namesake Andrei Tarkovsky, who was "discovered" by Venice in 1962 with his picture Ivanovo Detstvo (Ivan's Childhood). The Return also won the Luigi De Laurentiis Award for best first movie across all sections of the festival, which comes with €100,000 in prize money split between the director and producer Ren Film. The movie is being sold by Intercinema Art Agency. In an emotional moment at Saturday's ceremony, Zvyagintsev dedicated the Golden Lion to Vladimir Garin, the 15-year-old actor who played one of the sons, who drowned shortly after the shoot in the same lake that appears in the movie.

Russian father and son drama Vozvrashcheniye (The Return) has scooped the Golden Lion for best picture at this year's Venice Film Festival. Actor Vladimir Garin, 15, tragically died in the same lake where he filmed many of the scenes for the award-winning picture shortly after shooting was completed, and he was paid tribute to in a touching acceptance speech. Director Andrey Zvyaginstev said, "You see only two actors up on the stage tonight. Those who saw the film know there were three main actors. The fact is that the actor who played Andrey died tragically two months ago. We would like to dedicate this award to him." Other winners at the festival included Sean Penn as best actor in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 21 Grams, a film about three people thrown together by an accident. Penn declared, "I'm very grateful to the jury for this. Anyone who saw the film knows the ensemble I'm a part of."...

VENICE, Italy -- The Russian movie "The Return" by first-time director Andrey Zvyagintsev picked up the Golden Lion, Venice International Film Festival's top prize, at the closing-award ceremony. The movie, a visually poetic drama about two boys whose father returns after a 10-year absence to take them on a mysterious journey to a desolate island, won much praise from critics during the 11-day festival and has attracted the attention of several U.S. buyers. It is the first time a debut director has won the Golden Lion since Macedonian director Milcho Manchevski won with "Before the Rain" in 1994. Zvyagintsev's win will No Doubt invite comparisons to his celebrated compatriot and namesake Andrei Tarkovsky, who was "discovered" by Venice in 1962 with his picture "Ivanovo Detstvo" (Ivan's Childhood). "The Return" also won the Luigi De Laurentiis Award for best first movie across all sections of the festival, which comes with €100,000 in prize money split between the director and producer Ren Film. The movie is being sold by Intercinema Art Agency. In an emotional moment at Saturday's ceremony, Zvyagintsev dedicated the Golden Lion to Vladimir Garin, the 15-year-old actor who played one of the sons, who drowned shortly after the shoot in the same lake that appears in the movie.