Leviathan (2014)

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Movie
German title Leviathan
Original title Левиафан / Lewiafan
Country of production Russia
original language Russian
Publishing year 2014
length 142 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Andrei Svyagintsev
script Andrei Svyagintsev,
Oleg Negin
production Sergei Melkumow,
Alexander Rodnyansky
music Philip Glass
camera Mikhail Krichman
cut Anna Mass
occupation

Leviathan ( Russian Левиафан , Lewiafan ) is a Russian drama film directed by Andrei Svyagintsev from 2014 . The script was written by Svyagintsev and Oleg Negin. The main actors are Alexei Serebryakov, Jelena Lyadowa and Vladimir Vdovichenkov. The story is a modern adaptation of the book of Job and takes place on a peninsula in the Barents Sea . The production has won many international awards and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2015 .

action

The auto mechanic Nikolai Sergejew lives with his wife Lilia and their son Roman from their first marriage in a modest wooden house they built themselves. The house is lonely, surrounded by some junk, on a beautiful property on the bank of a small bay on the Barents Sea. Vadim Schelewjat, the corrupt mayor of the city of Pribreschny, wants to expropriate Sergeyev's property and property, including the car repair shop. For this Nikolai should be compensated with a ridiculous “purchase price” that would not even allow him to buy a simple apartment in the city.

Sergeev has already lost two trials in which he contested this case, so he asks his army friend Dmitri Seleznyov, who is now a respected lawyer in Moscow, for help. Seleznyov goes to see him north. Another trial is unsuccessful. The prospects are bad, and Seleznyov suggests that the Sergeyevs consider moving to Moscow. In the evening, the mayor, very drunk, shows up at Sergeyev's house with his bodyguard to humiliate him. Dmitri can with difficulty calm his also drunk and somewhat choleric friend Nikolai and get rid of the mayor. The next day, the Sergejews and Seleznjow want to report the mayor to the police and court in the city, but without success. Sergeyev vented his displeasure with the police, was therefore arrested and taken to the detention cell.

Dmitri Selesnjow has researched some unspecified facts with which the mayor is supposed to be blackened in order to dissuade him from his plan. The lawyer meets the mayor in his office and shows him a folder with evidence with which he is trying to blackmail the politician. He refers to his acquaintance with influential Moscow politicians and demands either that Nikolai be abandoned or that he be paid fair compensation - six times what was originally offered. The next day, Sergeev is released again. Shortly before, his wife cheated on him with Selesnjow in the hotel room.

During a picnic with barbecue, vodka and target practice - the traffic policeman Polivanov and his family and his boss are also there - Nikolai finds out that his wife Lilia and his friend Dmitri are having an affair. Nikolai beats them up and threatens to kill both of them while drunk. First, Lilia and Dmitri drive to the hotel, but finally Lilia returns to her husband, who has calmed down in the meantime. Roman, on the other hand, who had a difficult relationship with his stepmother before, cannot forgive Lilia.

Mayor Schelewjat is initially unsettled by the evidence gathered against him, but then consults with the key people in the city, who all dance to his tune: the judge, the public prosecutor and the chief of police. In addition, he makes sure of the support of the local bishop and decides not to give in to blackmail. He lures Selesnyov to a remote area on the pretext of further negotiations. The mayor's thugs beat up Dmitri. Shelevyat has a pistol handed to him and points it at the lawyer, but fires the gun just next to his head. Selesnyov is so intimidated after this mock execution that he leaves for Moscow.

After an argument with Roman, Lilia leaves the house and no longer responds to calls. She was also no longer seen at her job in a fish factory. A short time later she is found dead in the Wadden Sea. Nikolai then tries to drown his fate in vodka. He asks a priest how God could allow this and whether events would have taken a different course if he had led a more pious life.

The examination of Lilia's body reveals that she had sexual intercourse before she died, so she was presumably raped. Then she was killed with a hammer. Nikolai is suspected and arrested because of his statements at the picnic and the "overwhelming" burden of proof of the murder, and his house is finally destroyed by excavators. The Polivanovs, who are friends, offer Roman to take him into his care until he is of legal age. The court, which ignores exculpatory evidence, finds the innocent Nikolai guilty in a circumstantial trial and sentenced him to 15 years in a camp. Mayor Shelevyat takes note of the verdict with satisfaction.

In the finale of the film, the bishop preaches in a large, new church that was built on the site of Nikolai's house.

Emergence

In 2008, while filming New York, I Love You, Svyagintsev heard the story of a man from the US state of Colorado who had destroyed several buildings in his city with his bulldozer after building a cement factory to access his workshop had been blocked, and who subsequently killed himself. Together with Oleg Negin, he developed the script for Leviathan from this story and inspired by reading Heinrich Kleist's novella Michael Kohlhaas , the book Job and Thomas Hobbe's treatise Leviathan , which gave the film its name.

Filming began on August 1, 2013 and lasted 67 days. The outdoor shots took place in the villages of Teriberka and Tumanny and the cities of Kirovsk , Montschegorsk , Apatity and Olenegorsk in Murmansk Oblast in northwestern Russia and the city of Poschechonje in Yaroslavl Oblast in central Russia. Some of the interior shots were shot in Moscow .

The cost of production was approximately $ 3.4 million. The film was financed 35% with funds from the Russian Ministry of Culture.

publication

The film was released in a censored language version in Russia due to a law that bans swear words in the media, in films and in the theater. The date of the premiere had also been postponed by the Ministry of Culture due to the doctrine of the Ministry of Culture to give preference to Russian films that draw Russia positively.

reception

Russia

Most of the Russian critics were positive about the film, in most of the reviews it was described as a universally valid parable about power and authority as well as an appropriate representation of the current Russia. The Russian film critic Anton Dolin called Leviathan in the German edition of Russia Beyond the Headlines a “melancholy drama of survival in the gray province”, in which nature is both “cruel and picturesque”. Dolin summed up that the work contains everything “that Russian metaphysical film usually lacks: a direct political message, excellent acting, realistic dialogues and black humor”.

At the same time, the film was controversial in the political, church and journalistic public up to the point that it was anti-subversive propaganda by a Russophobic fifth column paid by foreigners . The Russian journalist Vladimir Posner saw the reason for this in the current situation in Russia: "Many people feel unjustly criticized, ostracized and attacked by the western world and feel that they have to protect themselves."

The incumbent Minister of Culture, Vladimir Medinsky , became a sharp critic after the film received international recognition and awards, even though the production costs were partly borne by the ministry. He told Svyagintsev that he was not satisfied with the result and publicly accused the filmmakers after the Oscar nomination of using the anti-Russian mood to gain international attention and recognition for their work. He criticized the Izvestia newspaper for the fact that Svyagintsev had drawn the characters negatively, swearing and consuming vodka excessively. He would not recognize himself, his colleagues, acquaintances or acquaintances of acquaintances in these characters. The Ministry of Culture therefore proposed guidelines in order to be able to ban films that would “pollute” national culture in the future.

Against the background of the ongoing criticism in his home country, Svyagintsev was astonished in an interview with the Russian state television broadcaster Pervy kanal that Leviathan is being taken as "microscopically serious as a documentary film".

A joke in Russia says that you can go out any door in Russia to see the film; the film is going on all over the country.

International

The film received extremely positive reviews in the international press, with Rotten Tomatoes 99% of the 88 reviews being positive; the average rating is 8.7 / 10. Metacritic calculated a score of 92 based on 33 reviews.

Variety saw the film as a “captivating, arthouse-related opus” that unfolds like a “1000-page novel”. So far it is Svyagintsev's "most accessible and naturalistic film", of surprising wit and "cynical-satirical undertone". The Guardian attested that Leviathan was "a terrifying and intimidating work [...] of grandiose claim and scope" and attested the film "true greatness".

The Chicago Sun-Times highlighted the "apt language" of the "masterful script". The Hollywood Reporter noted that some film plots are invisible. "These fascinating gaps in history" would underscore the "impossibility of knowing the truth about anything in a divided society". The New York Times wrote that the film's landscapes were "visual gifts." Especially the shots of the coast with its “shimmering arctic water, the waves in a midnight hue with blue reflections” and the movement “ebb and flow that caresses and beats the land” create the “viewer feeling of flooding”. This feeling is reinforced by the "hypnotic eddies of the Philip Glass film music". The “great” actors were praised in the Chicago Tribune . Alexej Serebrjakow [...] play like "a wounded bull driven by vodka and anger". Jelena Lyadowa recalled “her conflict between longing and disillusionment of the young Lena Olin ” and “the puffy and grim face of Roman Madyanov, Mayor Vadim”, became “a symbol [...] of unscrupulousness”.

epd Film awarded the film five out of five stars and praised it as a "masterpiece, universal fable and indictment against the conditions in today's Russia in one, conveyed through a careful and detailed description of totalitarian conditions and through a previously unprecedented visually powerful staging."

In 2016, Leviathan ranked 47th in a BBC poll of the 100 most important films of the 21st century .

Awards (selection)

British Academy Film Award

  • 2014: Nomination for Best Non-English Language Film

European film award

  • 2014: Nomination in the category Best Director
  • 2014: Nomination in the Best Screenplay category
  • 2014: Nomination in the Best Film category

Munich Film Festival

  • 2014: ARRI / OSRAM Award

Golden Globe Award

  • 2015: Best Foreign Language Film

Independent Spirit Award

  • 2015: Nomination in the category Best Foreign Film

Cannes International Film Festival

  • 2014: Best Screenplay
  • 2014: Nomination for the Golden Palm

London Film Festival

  • 2014: Best Film

Oscar

Nika (Russian National Film Award)

  • 2015: Best actress Jelena Lyadowa

Palm Springs International Film Festival

  • 2014: FIPRESCI Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category

Plus camerimage

  • 2014: Golden Frog

São Paulo International Film Festival

  • 2014: Critics Award

Zolotoi Oryol (Russian National Film Award)

  • 2014: Best Director, Best Editing, Best Actress Jelena Lyadowa, Best Supporting Actor Roman Madjanow

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Release for Leviathan . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , February 2015 (PDF; test number: 149 896 K).
  2. ↑ Andrei Plachow: "Если больше нет юродивых, кто скажет о беззаконии и лжи?" In: Kommersant , May 14, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2015. (Russian)
  3. ↑ Valery Kitschin: Andrei Swjaginzew: "The Oscar nomination is a breakthrough".  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Russia Beyond the Headlines , November 1, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2015.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / de.rbth.com  
  4. ↑ Larry Rohter: Champion of the Lone Russian Everyman. In 'Leviathan,' Andrey Zvyagintsev Navigates Tricky Terrain. In: The New York Times , December 18, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2015. (English)
  5. ↑ Mark Olsen: Filmmakers see a bigger message in Russia's 'Leviathan'. In: Los Angeles Times , December 30, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2015. (English)
  6. ^ Leviathan. Facts. Website Andrey Zvyagintsev. Accessed January 18, 2015. (English)
  7. ↑ Larissa Maljukowa: Фильм Звягинцева "Левиафан" вошел в конкурсную программу Каннского кинофестиваля. In: Novaya Gazeta , April 17, 2014. Retrieved January 20, 2015. (Russian)
  8. ↑ a b Russian Culture Minister Blasts Oscar Nominee Leviathan As 'Opportunistic'. In: Radio Free Europe , January 15, 2015. Accessed January 18, 2015. (English)
  9. ^ New law in Russia: Putin bans swear words. In: Spiegel Online , July 1, 2014. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  10. ^ Film "Leviathan" censored in Russian cinemas. In: Zeit Online , February 5, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  11. ↑ Russian film watchdogs had a problem with 'Paddington 2.' It was too popular , The Washington Post, January 21, 2018
  12. ↑ a b c Neil MacFarquhar: Russian Movie 'Leviathan' Gets Applause in Hollywood but Scorn at Home . In: The New York Times , January 27, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
  13. ↑ Anton Dolin: Five Reasons Why You Should See "Leviathan". (No longer available online.) Russia Beyond the Headlines , January 21, 2015, formerly the original ; accessed on January 21, 2015 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / de.rbth.com  
  14. ↑ Richard Porton: Inside 'Leviathan': Russian Filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev's Award-Winning Anti-Putin Cannes Film. In: The Daily Beast , May 27, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2015. (English)
  15. ^ Friedrich Schmidt: Russian film "Leviathan". The truth of today. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , January 27, 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
  16. ^ "Leviathan" - Golden Globe winner divides Russia. In: Zeit Online , January 26, 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
  17. ↑ Why a Russian film nominated for an Oscar is stirring angst at home , The Washington Post, February 11, 2015
  18. ^ Leviathan (2014). Rotten Tomatoes , accessed February 20, 2015 .
  19. ^ Leviathan. Metacritic , accessed February 20, 2015 .
  20. ^ Peter Debruge: Film Review: 'Leviathan'. Variety , May 22, 2014, accessed on February 16, 2015 (English): “[…] this engrossing, arthouse-bound opus […] with the booklet of a 1,000-page novel. […] Most accessible and naturalistic film […] extend the darkly satirical streak […]. "
  21. ↑ Peter Brandshaw: Cannes 2014 review: Leviathan - a new Russian masterpiece. The Guardian , May 22, 2014, accessed on February 16, 2015 (English): “Leviathan is a forbidding and intimidating work […]. [...] it has a magnificent ambition and scope It is a movie with real grandeur. "
  22. ^ Bill Stamets: 'Leviathan': Words count in a masterful Biblical Western. (No longer available online.) Chicago Sun-Times , Jan. 8, 2015, archived from the original on Feb. 24, 2015 ; accessed on February 16, 2015 (English): “The masterful script deals with telling words.” Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / entertainment.suntimes.com
  23. ↑ Leslie Felperin: 'Leviathan': Cannes Review. The Hollywood Reporter , May 22, 2014, accessed on February 16, 2015 (English): "These intriguing gaps in the story serve multiple purposes, like underscoring the impossibility of ever knowing the truth about anything in a society riven by secrets. [...] a bewitching sense of unease. "
  24. ↑ Manohla Dargis: Life: Poor, Nasty, Brutish and (Probably) Short. 'Leviathan' Turns on a Modern-Day Job. The New York Times , December 24, 2014, accessed on February 16, 2015 (English): “[…] visual gifts are worthy of the movie's natural landscapes. [...] brilliant Arctic water doesn't simply ebb and flow, but seems to caress and lash the earth, the waves shimmering with eddies of a midnight hue and glints [...] blue. [...] on the viewer is of near-inundation, a feeling that's reinforced by the soundtrack, which features the hypnotic swirling of Philip Glass's [...]. "
  25. ↑ Michael Phillips: Review: 'Leviathan'. Chicago Tribune , January 8, 2015, accessed February 16, 2015 : “The actors, all quite magnificent […]. Alexey Serebryakov plays […] like a wounded bull of a man, fueled by vodka and rage. Elena Lyadova's Lilya recalls the young Lena Olin in her crosscurrents of yearning and disillusionment. The puffy, exasperated face of Roman Madyanov, who plays Vadim, the mayor, becomes an emblem […] ruthless instincts. "
  26. ↑ Marli Feldvoss: Leviathan on epd-film.de, accessed on March 31, 2015.