DVD Review: Leviathan

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Why are public officials such dicks?

Actually, a lot of people in this film are dicks. Even the guy who had a legit reason to be one ended up in "way too much of a dick" territory.

 Kolya (Aleksey Serebryakov) is a man living in a small coastal town in Russia with his wife, Lilya (Elena Lyadova) and their son. He has to deal with a a very corrupt mayor, (Roman Madyanov) who wants to take everything away from Kolya. His house, his shop, etc. He calls an old friend who lives in Moscow, Dmitriy (Vladimir Vdovichenkov) who has become a lawyer to help, but when he shows up he just causes more problems.

 Leviathan gets off to a very slow start. So much that I nearly nodded off. But once it gets going it provides an interesting take on a normally tired story line. I haven't seen a lot of Russian cinema, so for me, I think this new territory helped me enjoy the film a bit more. 

 The acting is excellent, with everyone perfectly cast. Lyadova stood out as my favorite. She leads a very complicated life, and she was played so well. It's shot beautifully. Very gloomy and grey, it really brought out the turmoil most of the characters in this film are in. 

 Even though this film wasn't great, I'm glad I finally got to see if after all the buzz it generated last year. 

 Recommended: Yes

 Grade: C+

 Memorable Quote - "Did they all get drafted?" - Dmitriy (Vladimir Vdovichenkov)


Comments

  1. ManInBlackJuly 8, 2015 at 6:49 AM

    Nice post!

    Russian cinema isn't much for laughs or levity then again Russia itself doesn't exactly inspire anything else... Good film though. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 8, 2015 at 9:16 AM

      Ha, you're probably right. The actors in this were great though.

      Delete
  2. KhalidJuly 8, 2015 at 6:57 AM

    Well, I kinda loathed this movie. Didn't like a single thing about it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 8, 2015 at 9:16 AM

      Aw, that's too bad. I hate it when that happens.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousJuly 8, 2015 at 8:39 AM

    I really, really liked this...borderline loved it. Like, it's slow and it's full of a-holes, but it really gets under the skin and it stays with you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 8, 2015 at 9:16 AM

      lol I was hoping for a bit more, but it's definitely not terrible.

      Delete
  4. Big Screen Small WordsJuly 9, 2015 at 3:36 AM

    There was a lot of talk about this movie during awards season but I never really knew what it was about. Might give this one a go. It doesn't seem so intense as the first Russian movie I've seen.

    ReplyDelete
  5. JoshJuly 24, 2015 at 4:38 AM

    Glad you liked the acting and cinematography. It's one of my favorites from last year, but it's certainly slow and not entirely accessible.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 24, 2015 at 7:34 AM

      I was hoping to like it a bit more, but it's definitely not a bad film.

      Delete

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