May 3, 2008
Andrey Zvyaginstev?s first film, The Return, took me by surprise with the incredible emotional punch it carried, through the story it told, a Russian oedipal tragedy, and mostly through the exquisite way said story was told. The impressive acting and direction were complemented b...( read more)y the moody, almost achromatic at times look of the film. Since the first time I saw it, the film has grown on me more, so needless to say that last year, when I heard news of The Banishment, I was beyond curious about it.
As I finally managed to track it down, the film was well worth two and a half hours of my time, although I can clearly say that I wasn?t as fond as The Banishment as I was of The Return. Some of the shots Zvyaginstev created, though extremely beautiful and symbolic, sometimes appear too much so. Too staged, too sought out, too? artificial. Now, as anyone who has glanced over my favorite movie list will attest, I am not one to dislike a crafty, staged shot, on the contrary, but the problem here is that when seen in context with the rest of the flm?s look and feel, said shots seem? excessive. As far as the acting goes, Konstantin Lavorenko?s performance is excellent and essential in making the film work, but again, I can?t help feeling that overall, The Return was better acted, which is not to take anything away from The Banishment. The cinematography is beautiful, and although Zvyaginstev allows for a wider colour palette here, some of the scenes? somber, almost monochrome feel is reminiscent of his previous work. The director opted for the use of fixed cameras, as a detached observer. There is barely any camera movement in the film, save for the occasional panning or tracking, and there are few to no transitions used.
*The following passages might contain spoilers*
As the film opens, one is immediately drawn in by the amazing visuals. We follow a car as it drives from a rural environment onto an urban one, and eventually one of the characters, the car?s driver is finally revealed. The man is shot and we see him reach his destination, a house in the city, where someone we later find out is his brother is waiting for him. The following sequence reveals some of the character?s background and also raises some of the questions that will seek answer all throughout the film. The story picks up a few months later, when the main character, Alexandr(Konstantin Lavorenko), his wife and children are headed to the same rural area the man was coming from. They reach an old, seemingly uninhabited house that used to belong to Alexandr?s father.
There are untold stories in the semi obscurity of the old house, a history in its worn out walls, in its decaying wood, in its transient durability. There is an untold story behind each of the main characters, whom, despite their shared history, all hold secrets from each other, and are, as the film will reveal, despite the bonds that tie them together, painfully estranged from one another. There is an archaic force in the house and its surroundings, something raw, chilling, primordial, and utterly contrasting with the seeming peaceful perfection of this newly arrived family. The events that transpire seem to awaken those dark, archaic impulses, throwing everyone into the depths of tragedy. The ending brings the revelation(or reassertion) of humanity, of fragility, of estrangement. The symbolic rain near the end seems to wash everything away, but the end reveals that one must sow what one reaps, and that bitterness and guilt can?t and won?t go away.
Sadly, the final 20 minutes or so are the weakest point in the film, when they should be the strongest, due to its construction. The film is crafted around the final revelation and some of the earlier scenes gain their full weight in retrospect because of this revelation, but the film loses very much because of its twist-based structure, and especially of the way said twist is handled. The revelation comes too fast and is too simple for the amazing build up that had been created in the film up to that point. The mood that had been set, the questions that had been raised could have given way to a far more satisfying ending if handled less hastily. Nevertheless, the ultimate scope of the film overcomes the final? blunder.
*End spoilers*
Overall, a beautiful, haunting film from one of the directors I will continue to keep a very close eye on.
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