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Stars: Elena Lyadova, Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Sevastian Bugaev, Yan Runov, Evgeniy Tsyganov | Written and Directed by Olga Gorodetskaya

A feature film debut from writer and director Olga Gorodetskaya, based on a story written by Anna Starobinets (Port), Stray is a Russian horror movie that follows a couple who, after losing their young son, adopt a child from an orphanage that turns out to be less than “normal”.

The film, also called Tvar and Evil Boy, is not totally unlike some of the other “evil child” films we’ve seen over the years, and possesses (pun not intended) many of those traits and storyline routes that many of those films take. It still does, however, have it’s own soul and ideas, making it interesting and engaging enough from the start to get you invested and keep you watching. The young boy, once the couple take him home, begins immediately to transform...

UK sales outfit also secures sales of crime comedy ‘Schemers’ and comedy-drama ‘My Thoughts Are Silent’.

UK sales outfit Reason8 Films has sold Russian horror thriller Tvar (Stray) to WellGo USA Entertainment, which plans to release the film in North America under the title Evil Boy.

Directed by Olga Gorodetskaya, the film centres on a married couple whose decision to adopt an orphan has terrifying consequences. It stars Elena Lyadova and Vladimir Vdovichenkov, best known for their roles in Cannes and Golden Globe winner Leviathan.

With cinemas closed, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, WellGo is planning a home entertainment release in July.

The Berlinale has revealed the first films within its Competition and Berlinale Special lineups.

Source: Amazon

Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot

The Berlin Film Festival (15 - 25 Feb) has revealed the first films within its Competition and Berlinale Special lineups.

Directors including Benoit Jacquot, Gus Van Sant, Alexey German Jr., Małgorzata Szumowska, Philip Gröning, Thomas Stuber and Laura Bispuri will compete in this year’s Competition while Isabel Coixet and Lars Kraume feature in the Berlinale Special strand.

Alongside the previously announced opening film, Isle of Dogs by Wes Anderson, seven productions and co-productions from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, Serbia, the Russian Federation, and the USA are announced for the Competition.

Gus Van Sant’s drama Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far, which will debut at Sundance, is the only film announced today which is not a world premiere. Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill,...

The Berlinale has revealed the first films within its Competition and Berlinale Special lineups.

Source: Amazon

Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot

The Berlin Film Festival (15 - 25 Feb) has revealed the first films within its Competition and Berlinale Special lineups.

Directors including Benoit Jacquot, Gus Van Sant, Alexey German Jr., Małgorzata Szumowska, Philip Gröning, Thomas Stuber and Laura Bispuri will compete in this year’s Competition while Isabel Coixet and Lars Kraume feature in the Berlinale Special strand.

Alongside the previously announced opening film, Isle of Dogs by Wes Anderson, seven productions and co-productions from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, Serbia, the Russian Federation, and the USA are announced for the Competition.

Gus Van Sant’s drama Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far, which will debut at Sundance, is the only film announced today which is not a world premiere. Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara and [link...

Continuing our countdown of the best movies released in Australia this year: a booze-fuelled Russian epic which had officials at the Kremlin steaming

• The Australian top 50 so far

Has 2015 given us any more full-blooded a film than Leviathan? Even the best of the rest feel watery lined up beside the 70% proof sucker-punch of this. Andrei Zvyagintsev’s contemporary Russian epic is a one-stop shop for those in search of love, sex, adultery, an exploration of the role of the man in the state, of faith and freedom, institutional corruption and insidious patriotism. And a lot of vodka.

The story, given the whopping sources (The Book of Job, the work of Thomas Hobbes, etc) is actually quite a lean beast: Nikolay (Aleksei Serebryakov) lives with his second wife, Lilya (Elena Lyadova from Zvyagintsev’s Elena), and moody teenage son in a modest villa overlooking a lake. It was built by his ancestors,...

Our resident VOD expert tells you what's new to rent and/or own this week via various Digital HD providers such as cable Movies On Demand, Amazon, iTunes, Vudu and, of course, Netflix. Cable Movies On Demand: Same-day-as-disc releases, older titles and pretheatrical exclusives for rent, priced from $3-$10, in 24- or 48-hour periods American Sniper (Clint Eastwood-directed action-drama about Navy Seal Chris Kyle; Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Kyle Gallner, Cole Konis; rated R) Seventh Son (fantasy-adventure; Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Ben Barnes; also available in 3D; rated PG-13) Strange Magic (animated; voices: Alan Cumming, Evan Rachel Wood; rated PG) Leviathan (2014) (Russian drama; Elena Lyadova, Vladimir Vdovichenkov; rated...

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★★★★★ Living up to its title, there is an epic quality to Leviathan (2014), Andrey Zvyagintsev's tragic drama about corruption and impunity in modern Russia. Mechanic Kolya (Aleksey Serebryakov) and his second wife Lilya (Elena Lyadova) are facing eviction from their home overlooking the Barents Sea in the north. It's in a prime position and the miscreant mayor, Vadim (Roman Madyanov), wants to bulldoze it and redevelop the land. Kolya enlists the help of his old friend Dimitri (Vladimir Vdovichenkov), now a city lawyer, who arrives from Moscow with damning evidence of the mayor's past misdemeanours. Leviathan starts as a simple tale of local corruption which serves to reflect the bigger picture in Russia.

Well, sometimes some confusion can be a good thing. When I was first aware of this film’s title, I thought that this may be a remake/reboot of the 1989 Peter Weller starring monster thriller with a massive CGI beastie akin to those from Pacific Rim or last Summer’s retooled Godzilla. Seems I was mistaken. Leviathan doesn’t concern itself with a colossal rampaging demon risen from the depths, but rather it’s a complex drama set in a dreary, Russian fishing village (yes, it has subtitles). The title doesn’t refer to a scaly giant that the film’s heroes must face. They instead must square off against an even more formidable adversary, for this leviathan is comprised not of claws and fangs, but corruption and the cruelties of fate itself.

The story begins as the sun rises over that Russian village, as Nikolay (Aleksey Serebryakov) heads away...

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has unveiled its 2015 line-up which includes films representing 54 countries, 23 world premieres and 53 U.S. premieres. The U.S. premiere of Niki Caro’s McFarland USA will close out the 30th fest. Based on the 1987 true story and starring Kevin Costner and Maria Bello, the film follows novice runners from McFarland, an economically challenged town in California’s farm-rich Central Valley, as they give their all to build a cross-country team under the direction of Coach Jim White (Costner), a newcomer to their predominantly Latino high school. The unlikely band of runners overcomes the odds to forge not only a championship cross-country team but an enduring legacy as well.

The festival runs from January 27-February 7.

Below is the list of World and U.S. Premiere films followed by the list of titles by sidebar categories.

World Premieres

A Better You, USA

Directed by Matt Walsh

Cast: Brian Huskey,...

A self-acknowledged "showcase for Academy Award frontrunners," the Santa Barbara International Film Festival is often overlooked for the actual films that earn it festival status. An amalgamation of international discoveries and ’merica’s circuit highlights, the Sbiff curates a week of best-of-the-best to pair with their star-praising. The 2015 edition offers another expansive selection, bookended by two films that aren’t on any radars just yet. Sbiff will open with "Desert Dancer," producer Richard Raymond’s directorial debut. Starring Reece Ritchie and Frieda Pinto, the drama follows a group of friends who wave off the harsh political climate of Iran’s 2009 presidential election in favor of forming a dance team, picking up moves from Michael Jackson, Gene Kelly and Rudolf Nureyev thanks to the magic of YouTube. The festival will close with "McFarland, USA," starring Kevin Costner and Maria Bello. Telling the 1987 true story of a Latino high school’s underdog cross-country team,...

On the Waterfront: Zvyagintsev’s Sprawling Opus of a Modern, Devouring Regime

Back with his fourth feature, Leviathan, Russian auteur Andrey Zvyagintsev succeeds in cinematic sublimity with this multilayered and operatic exploration of the crushing corruption of an unchecked regime. While each of his films have taken home prestigious awards (The Return won the Golden Lion at Venice in 2003, The Banishment snagged Best Actor at Cannes in 2007 while 2011’s Elena roped the Special Jury Prize for Un Certain Regard), this latest feature should solidify his unparalleled ascension as the most important auteur to rise out of Russia since Andrey Tarkovsky. Time may prove his to be the more potent title, a damning examination of the turpitude bred by an archaic and untoward establishment.

Living in the home that he’s built with his own hands on the waterfront of the Barents Sea, Kolya (Alexei Serebryakov), has recently been notified...

Leviathan Sony Pictures Classics Reviewed for Shockya by Harvey Karten. Data-based on Rotten Tomatoes. Grade: B Director: Andrey Zvyangintsev Screenwriter: Andrey Zyvagintsev, Oleg Negin Cast: Alexey Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova, Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Sergey Pokhodaev Screened at: Sony, NYC, 11/25/14 Opens: December 25, 2014 The principal character in Andrey Zvyangintsev’s “Leviathan” is one who during the two hours plus running time of the film becomes completely depleted. He is a lost soul not just metaphorically but a man who has literally lost his two wives, his son, his home, his spirit, his freedom. If that sounds similar to the fate of the biblical Job, which addresses the theme of God’s justice in [ Read More ]

The post Leviathan Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Following yesterday's Us trailer for the Cannes Palme d'Or prize-winning film Winter Sleep, we have another much buzzed about title from the French showcase of cinema debuting a trailer. This year, Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev (The Return, Elena) returned to Cannes with his drama Leviathan, the story that is described as a gripping parable of class, faith and corruption, centering on a land dispute between a small-time mechanic and his local authorities that reaps unimaginable consequences. The film is actually inspired by the Biblical tale of Job, and looks like a provocative, masterfully shot piece of cinema. Here's the first trailer for Andrey Zvyagintsev's Leviathan from Palace Films: Kolia (Alexey Serebryakov) lives in a coastal village near the Barents Sea in Northern Russia, running an auto-repair shop, shared with young wife Lilya (Elena Lyadova) and his teenage son. Suddenly they find their lives and home threatened as Vadim Sergeyich...

You may not be able to pronounce the name Andrey Zvyagintsev, but this spring you likely saw that flurry of consonants and vowels across Twitter or in the blogosphere. The director's epic "Leviathan" was the big talk of the Cannes Film Festival, and one many thought would take the Palme d'Or. Instead, it had to settle on the screenplay prize, but if the buzz is anything to go by, this is a movie you need to put high on your watch list. Starring Alexey Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova, Vladimir Vdovitchenkov, Roman Madyanov, Anna Ukolova, Alexey Rozin and Sergey Pokhadaev, the movie is set in a small town in which a property owner and the mayor battle over a parcel of land, in a story inspired by the Biblical tale of Job. But there's much more, as it comments on corruption in Russia, and our A-grade review calls the movie "not just masterful but also hugely important.

I'd never seen any of director Andrey Zvyagintsev's work prior to seeing Leviathan (Leviafan), winner for Best Screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival, last week. Not The Return nor Elena, but this is clearly the work of a master storyteller, but it is a dark piece of work that balances corrupt Russian politics with religion and a whole lot of vodka. Today a subtitled trailer for the film arrives giving you a hint of what to expect from the nearly 150-minute drama. Here's the official plot synopsis: Kolia lives in a small town near the Barents Sea, in North Russia. He has his own auto-repair shop. His shop stands right next to the house where he lives with his young wife Lilya and his son from a previous marriage Roma. Vadim Shelevyat, the Mayor of the town, wants to take away his business, his house and his land.

The Masters section is always a Croisette and Lido heavy selection and this year is no different. From Cannes we have Jean-Luc Godard’s Goodbye to Language 3D (which is a top of the charts item according to our Blake Williams) Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan (which our Nicholas Bell thinks is near perfection and calls “cinematic sublimity with this multilayered and operatic exploration of the crushing corruption of an unchecked regime” and Abderrahmane Sissakos’ Timbuktu. On tap directly from Venice we might have the retirement films from Roy Andersson (A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence) and Ann Hui (The Golden Era), with some South Korean representation from Hong Sang-soo in Hill of Freedom and Revivre from Im Kwon-taek, but the worthy mentions are the nabbed world premiere status items from the always fascinating, taste dispenser and wide-ranging filmography in Michael Winterbottom & the always wry and humorous latest...

Leviathan

Written by Oleg Negin and Andrei Zvyagintsev

Directed by Andrei Zvyagintsev

Russia, 2014

There are three things you don’t discuss at a dinner table: politics, religion, and your unending suffering at the hands of those two beasts. Andrei Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan manages to bring all three of those into a modern retelling of Job by way of Thomas Hobbes. Taking influence from such classic texts puts Zvyagintsev in the realm of other Russian storytellers known for grand-scale ambitions: Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Tarkovsky. Luckily, his cultural inheritance is well-utilized — the title implying a mammoth tale from a political beast encapsulates a present-day Russia dominated by systems out of its citizens’ control.

Kolya (Alexei Serebryakov) and his son Roma (Sergey Pokhadaev) smack each other at the breakfast table as punishment-turned-friendly-roughhousing. Roma is still getting used to Kolya’s second wife Lilya (Elena Lyadova) living with them in their seaside home, so he...

As a film critic, one is usually moved to immediate expression when a great film comes down the pike -- its ideas spur one's own, the words tumble forth in not-always-orderly fashion, the urge to share an experience sometimes outpacing the ability to parse it. Yet sometimes baldly extraordinary films thwart our initial attempts to write about them, and such has been the case with me and Andrei Zvyagintsev's "Leviathan" -- a classically robust, not inordinately complicated melodrama that nonetheless seems to be about something different every time I sit down to tackle it. It's been a week since I saw it at Cannes, and "Leviathan" hasn't yet settled in my mind or heart; rather, it continues to unsettle, in ways both exciting and elusive. It's a film, like a rich novel, from which you might wish to re-read extracts while only halfway through; it's certainly the first film I...

Exclusive: Andrei Zvyagintsev’s Competition entry sells to UK.

UK arthouse distributor Curzon has acquired all-rights to Andrei Zvyagintsev’s Cannes Competition entry Leviathan in a deal negotiated with Pyramide International.

Zyagintsev’s third film to launch at Cannes after The Banishment and Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize-winner Elena follows the owner of a small-town auto shop who comes into conflict with the local mayor.

Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Aleksey Serebryakov and actress Elena Lyadova (Elena) star in the drama from co-writers Zvyagintsev and Oleg Negin (Elena, Banishment).

Producers are Alexander Rodnyansky and Sergey Melkumov, DoP is Mikhail Krichman and music comes from Philip Glass.

The deal means Curzon has two films playing in Competition this week, following their pre-buy of the Dardenne brothers’ Two Days, One Night.

Philip Knatchbull, CEO of Curzon, said: “We’re delighted to have wrapped up the UK rights ahead of Leviathan’s competition screening and to be working again with Pyramide International...

Welcome to the final entry in Cannes Check, In Contention's annual preview of the films in Competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off tomorrow. Taking on different selections every day, we've examined what they're about, who's involved and what their chances are of snagging an award from Jane Campion's jury. We close thing out, neatly enough, with what will also be the last Competition film to be unveiled on the Croisette: Andrei Zvyagintsev's "Leviathan."  The director: Andrei Zvyagintsev (Russian, 50 years old). Among the most highly regarded Russian filmmakers of his generation, Zvyagintsev's filmography is short but muscular, and routinely compared to work of his late compatriot (and admitted inspiration) Andrei Tarkovsky. Born to working-class parents in Siberia, he began his career as an actor, graduating from drama school in his home town of Novosibirsk before moving to Moscow to further train at the Russian Academy of Theater Arts.

With only hours ago before the official selection for the Main Competition is announced, we’ve narrowed our final predictions to the following titles that we’re crystal-balling as the films that will be included on Thierry Fremaux’s highly anticipated list. Despite an obvious drought of Asian auteurs (we’re thinking the rumored frontrunner Takashi Miike won’t be included in tomorrow’s list) who’s to say there won’t be some definite surprises, like Jia Zhang-ke’s A Touch of Sin last year.

Several hopefuls appear not to be ready in time, including Malick, Hsou-hsien, Cristi Puiu, and Innarritu, to name a few. But there does appear to be a high quantity of exciting titles from some of cinema’s leading auteurs. We’re still a bit tentative about whether Xavier Dolan’s latest, Mommy, will get a main competition slot—instead, we’re predicting another surprise,...

Ahead of this week’s Nika Awards ceremony in Moscow, Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin heard the plans by Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky to re-launch the film festival in Crimea’s Yalta and the festival for children’s cinema in the small resort town of Gurzuf.

Speaking to the Ria-Novosti agency after his meeting with Putin, Medinsky said he believed that both festivals could take place again this year and suggested that these events - as well as an international jazz festival in Koktebel - could help attract guests from all over Russia - and later on, from all over the world.

The meeting between Putin and Medinsky also centred on the proposal to reactivate the Yalta Film Studios on the peninsula as a centre for national production. In Soviet times, these studios had hosted such productions as Andrey Tarkovsky’s Solaris, Amphibian Man, Prisoner Of The Caucasus and Kidnapping, Caucasian Style.

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Leviathan

Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev

Writers: Andrei Zvyagintsev and Oleg Nevin

Producer(s): Non-stop Production

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available

Cast: Elena Lyadova, Alexei Serebryakov, Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Roman Madyanov

With a trio of deliriously exciting titles under his belt, the 2011 drama Elena (world premiere coverage) saw a resurgence in critical appreciation for one of the most exciting directors working in Russia over the past decade, Andrei Zvyagintsev. A socially conscious drama that sounds like highbrow science fiction, the director returns with screenwriter Oleg Nevin, who penned both Elena and The Banishment (2007). Zvyagintsev gave a rare interview in the earlier part of 2013 on the project, so, with a little luck, perhaps this will be ready in time for Cannes.

Gist: Described as a drama that that melts into tragedy as it depicts current day social problems, this a much more ambitious project than his last film, which also unites him with actress Elena Lyadova.

Awkward families threaten a recovering patient's marriage in a subtle Russian marvel

If Claude Chabrol had made a film that looked like a Russian parable of human vanity, it might look like this gripping and disturbing film from Andrey Zvyagintsev. (I found myself thinking of both Merci Pour Le Chocolat and old Count Bezukhov's will in War And Peace.) Elena is only the third feature-length film from this 48-year-old director, after The Return (2003) and The Banishment (2007); it is in many ways his most intimate, and the film with the most contemporary and realist character.

Nadezhda Markina plays Elena, a middle-aged former nurse from a poor background who appears to have struck it very lucky. A wealthy patient, Vladimir (Andrey Smirnov) married her and now she lives with him in his luxury apartment with nothing to do but tend conscientiously to her husband. He is ageing, but their love life is still vigorous,...

A Touch of Class: Zvyagintsev’s latest slow burn reaches a masterful boil.

Over the past decade, one of the most celebrated new filmmakers to come out of Russia is Andrei Zvyagintsev, with his highly celebrated 2003 debut The Return, and the equally acclaimed 2007 film The Banishment. A filmmaker with a knack for teasing tense thrills out of seemingly banal human relationships, he returns with his best work yet, Elena. A class clash potboiler, it’s a simple but deliciously hypnotic narrative about wealth and the queer way it tends to push people out of their comfort zones.

We’re introduced to Elena (Nadezhda Markina), wife and caretaker to Vladimir (Andrey Smirnov), a couple in their mid-sixties comfortably living in an expensive apartment in Moscow. Through their interactions, we learn that they each have children from a different marriage and that Elena used to be Vladimir’s nurse and, thus,...

Title: Elena Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev Cast: Yelena Lyadova, Nadezhda Markina and Aleksey Rozin Starting with an extremely long take of the outside of a luxury apartment, filmmaker Andrei Zvyagintsev almost challenges the audience to pay attention to every detail in the frame of his film “Elena.” As the shot pushes on, it’s as if the filmmaker is telling the audience not to go inside, not to get involved with the rich drama that is happening, the shot is the point of no return for the audience. This invokes so many ideas about voyeurism and the nature of human interactions; smartly Andrei Zvyagintsev builds upon these ideas once we get inside. [ Read More ]...

One of the best directorial debuts of the last decade was Andrei Zvyagintsev‘s The Return. The small story following two brothers packed a punch thanks to the director’s perfect pacing and unsettling style. His latest film, Elena, picked up the special jury prize at Cannes this past May and now a new trailer has arrived. The story isn’t grabbing me as much as his past films, but as with most foreign dramas of this ilk, the slow-burn appeal is hard to pack into a minute-and-half piece. Check it out below, along with a new poster thanks to In Contention, for the film starring Yelena Lyadova, Nadezhda Markina, Aleksey Rozin and Andrey Smirnov.

Synopsis:

Elena and Vladimir are an older couple, they come from different backgrounds. Vladimir is a wealthy and cold man, Elena comes from a modest milieu and is a docile wife. They have met late...