'Elena': Second wife plans sabotage in impressive Russian film noir - The Seattle Tim

[Film Noir Press - Noir news from the internet]

The unmistakable sounds of Philip Glass tell you right away that "Elena" is no ordinary Russian melodrama.
What's an American musical score doing here? The break with tradition may seem jarring, even perverse at times, but it eventually justifies itself and becomes a vital part of the filmmakers' ripe approach to a familiar story.
Promoted as a post-Cold War film noir, "Elena" begins with a deliberately lengthy opening shot that could almost be mistaken for a still photograph. It seems to be announcing that the director, Andrei Zvyagintsev ("The Return"), is taking charge for the next couple of hours in order to deliver his fatalistic message.
His aging central characters behave almost ritualistically: waking up to the sounds of an electric razor, delivering a perfunctory morning kiss, paying less-than-close attention to a television program that advises a "lifestyle adjustment" that involves eating more salads.
Elena is a former nurse and a determined member of the Second Wives' Club. When her wealthy husband, Vladimir, suffers a heart attack and appears unlikely to recover, she sets out to foil his inheritance plans.
Driven by greed and estrangement, Elena and her relatives are often so extreme that they verge on the ridiculous — especially a loathsome couch-potato son (Sergey Rozin) who inspires his mother's plans to sabotage Vladimir's will.
But while they may be larger-than-life monsters, they're never unbelievable. Nadezhda Markina brings a slow-burn quality to Elena that emphasizes her remarkable patience. Andrey Smirnov manages to suggest that Vladimir's feeling for her (they met when he was her patient) hasn't entirely left him.
Zvyaginstsev makes the most of the ghastly settings, which include a backyard that ominously features nuclear cones — and the kinds of compartmentalized living spaces that Hitchcock used for droll effect in "Rear Window."
John Hartl: johnhartl@yahoo.com



More...

[Film Noir Press - Noir news from the internet]

Intramural class warfare is the name of the game in "Elena," a provocative film-noir tale of post-Putin Russia, set in a palatial glass-and-chrome exurban manse that is so post-modern, it's pre-Apocalyptic.
Are you keeping track of all the pre-and-post modifiers? You'll need to:
Sixty-somethings Vladimir and Elena come from diametrically different backgrounds. He's a wealthy retired technocrat, cold and detached. She's his former nurse, a product of the working class -- now his dowdy, docile, dutiful wife.

---

'Elena'

3 stars = Good
Ratings explained

• Starring: Nadezhda Markina, Andrey Smirnov.
• Rating: PG-13 in nature for mature subject matter and subtitles.

---

Other than symbiotic cohabitation, the only thing they have in common is a problematic child from a previous marriage. Elena's shiftless son Sergey is constantly hitting her up for money -- and getting it, thanks to Vladimir's affluence. Vladimir and his wild daughter Katya have been estranged for years.
A heart attack lands Vladimir (Andrey Smirnov) in the hospital; there, reflections on his ebbing mortality and a rough but redemptive reunion with his daughter lead him to make a surprise decision. "Why am I supposed to support your son and his family?" he asks Elena (Nadezhda Markina). Instead, he's changing his will and leaving everything to Katya.
That announcement shatters the devoted Elena, as well as her ability to meet the ongoing financial demands of her son. "Shto dyelat?" as the Russians say -- What to do? This shy, servile housewife must find a new way to assure her own and her son's and grandchildren's survival. The result could be a cocktail to die for, in more ways than one.
Writer-director Andrey Zvyagintsev's gripping, downbeat film takes place in the moral vacuum of a Cowardly New World, where money rules. The gifts of pseudo-democratic capitalism have included guns, crime, drugs and rampant unemployment. Talk about trickle-down economics ... You've got to prime the pump violently just to get your trickle. Plain, dowdy Elena seems as out of place in this world as she is in her husband's incongruously grim, high-tech digs (much coveted by her son).
Mr. Zvyagintsev's brilliant previous features ("The Return" of 2003 and "The Banishment" of 2007) don't quite prepare us for the bleak ironies of this one, in which it's ultimately the two aging parents -- not the two children -- who rebel. "That's why you breed," growls Vladimir at one point, "to suck the life from your children."
It doesn't get much bleaker or more cynical than that.
But nor does the acting get much better. Nadezhda Markina is tremendous -- terrifically subtle -- in her title role. She renders the script's spare dialogue with soulful nuance, speaking little but perfectly communicating her every thought and feeling. There is such a deathly calm depth to this long-suffering woman -- so believably dowdy and conflicted. Is she a repentant sinner or a monster disguised as a saint?
The other performances are likewise excellent: Elena Lyadova as spoiled-brat daughter Katya nearly steals the show, opposite Aleksey Rozin's loutish son Sergey. Mr. Smirnov is quietly imposing, from beginning to end, as the dying Vladimir.
Throughout, Mikhail Krichman's widescreen cinematography is elegantly composed, whether slowly zooming in on a wall of framed photographs (to tell us the background story without words) or lingering on scenes of mundane daily life in relentlessly realistic fashion. Life doesn't really move much faster in modern Russia than in the old Soviet Union, especially for folks like these. How effective is the slo-o-o-w, deliberate pacing? You'll have to judge for yourself: One man's "hypnotic" is another man's "boring."
Kudos, in any case, to the ominous Hitchcockian music provided by Philip Glass' Symphony No. 3 -- minimalist in quality and quantity alike -- which never telegraphs the action or emotion you're supposed to feel.
But most kudos -- whatever kudos are -- to a fascinating if difficult director, who never caters to his viewers.
If you call a basically commercial relationship "love," says Mr. Zvyagintsev, don't be surprised when, in moments of crisis, the two individuals act in their own interests. (Do you know any "lovers" like that? I do.) Here's an even more amazing, sweepingly philosophical statement from him: "The Devil is powerless when he stands before the face of God. Man is powerless in the face of Death. And God is powerless in the face of Man's freedom of choice. Humanity holds the key to the future of this trinity."
"Elena," which won a special prize at last year's Cannes festival, plumbs the deep existential alienation and preoccupation with sin that is now, always has been, and ever shall be uniquely Russian.
Something about ill-gotten gains ... Something about a film that leaves us post-crime but pre-punishment ... Let's just say, nobody's gonna live too happily ever after.
(In Russian with English subtitles. Opens Friday at the Regent Square Theater.)



More...

[Film Noir Press - Noir news from the internet]

Nadezhda Markina and Andrey Smirnov in "Elena."

Intramural class warfare is the name of the game in "Elena," a provocative film-noir tale of post-Putin Russia, set in a palatial glass-and-chrome exurban manse that is so post-modern, it's pre-Apocalyptic.
Are you keeping track of all the pre-and-post modifiers? You'll need to:
Sixty-somethings Vladimir and Elena come from diametrically different backgrounds. He's a wealthy retired technocrat, cold and detached. She's his former nurse, a product of the working class -- now his dowdy, docile, dutiful wife.

---

'Elena'

3 stars = Good
Ratings explained

• Starring: Nadezhda Markina, Andrey Smirnov.
• Rating: PG-13 in nature for mature subject matter and subtitles.

---

Other than symbiotic cohabitation, the only thing they have in common is a problematic child from a previous marriage. Elena's shiftless son Sergey is constantly hitting her up for money -- and getting it, thanks to Vladimir's affluence. Vladimir and his wild daughter Katya have been estranged for years.
A heart attack lands Vladimir (Andrey Smirnov) in the hospital; there, reflections on his ebbing mortality and a rough but redemptive reunion with his daughter lead him to make a surprise decision. "Why am I supposed to support your son and his family?" he asks Elena (Nadezhda Markina). Instead, he's changing his will and leaving everything to Katya.
That announcement shatters the devoted Elena, as well as her ability to meet the ongoing financial demands of her son. "Shto dyelat?" as the Russians say -- What to do? This shy, servile housewife must find a new way to assure her own and her son's and grandchildren's survival. The result could be a cocktail to die for, in more ways than one.
Writer-director Andrey Zvyagintsev's gripping, downbeat film takes place in the moral vacuum of a Cowardly New World, where money rules. The gifts of pseudo-democratic capitalism have included guns, crime, drugs and rampant unemployment. Talk about trickle-down economics ... You've got to prime the pump violently just to get your trickle. Plain, dowdy Elena seems as out of place in this world as she is in her husband's incongruously grim, high-tech digs (much coveted by her son).
Mr. Zvyagintsev's brilliant previous features ("The Return" of 2003 and "The Banishment" of 2007) don't quite prepare us for the bleak ironies of this one, in which it's ultimately the two aging parents -- not the two children -- who rebel. "That's why you breed," growls Vladimir at one point, "to suck the life from your children."
It doesn't get much bleaker or more cynical than that.
But nor does the acting get much better. Nadezhda Markina is tremendous -- terrifically subtle -- in her title role. She renders the script's spare dialogue with soulful nuance, speaking little but perfectly communicating her every thought and feeling. There is such a deathly calm depth to this long-suffering woman -- so believably dowdy and conflicted. Is she a repentant sinner or a monster disguised as a saint?
The other performances are likewise excellent: Elena Lyadova as spoiled-brat daughter Katya nearly steals the show, opposite Aleksey Rozin's loutish son Sergey. Mr. Smirnov is quietly imposing, from beginning to end, as the dying Vladimir.
Throughout, Mikhail Krichman's widescreen cinematography is elegantly composed, whether slowly zooming in on a wall of framed photographs (to tell us the background story without words) or lingering on scenes of mundane daily life in relentlessly realistic fashion. Life doesn't really move much faster in modern Russia than in the old Soviet Union, especially for folks like these. How effective is the slo-o-o-w, deliberate pacing? You'll have to judge for yourself: One man's "hypnotic" is another man's "boring."
Kudos, in any case, to the ominous Hitchcockian music provided by Philip Glass' Symphony No. 3 -- minimalist in quality and quantity alike -- which never telegraphs the action or emotion you're supposed to feel.
But most kudos -- whatever kudos are -- to a fascinating if difficult director, who never caters to his viewers.
If you call a basically commercial relationship "love," says Mr. Zvyagintsev, don't be surprised when, in moments of crisis, the two individuals act in their own interests. (Do you know any "lovers" like that? I do.) Here's an even more amazing, sweepingly philosophical statement from him: "The Devil is powerless when he stands before the face of God. Man is powerless in the face of Death. And God is powerless in the face of Man's freedom of choice. Humanity holds the key to the future of this trinity."
"Elena," which won a special prize at last year's Cannes festival, plumbs the deep existential alienation and preoccupation with sin that is now, always has been, and ever shall be uniquely Russian.
Something about ill-gotten gains ... Something about a film that leaves us post-crime but pre-punishment ... Let's just say, nobody's gonna live too happily ever after.
(In Russian with English subtitles. Opens Friday at the Regent Square Theater.)
Post-Gazette film critic emeritus Barry Paris: parispg48@aol.com.
First published on July 26, 2012 at 12:00 am



More...

[Film Noir Press - Noir news from the internet]

“Elena” is a very Russian contemporary film noir, a tightly drawn portrait of amorality in which greed and crime may or may not go unpunished.
Set in the comfortable suburbs of Moscow and in the crumbling Soviet era projects, “Elena” is the story of a middle-aged couple and its family.
Elena (Nadezha Markina) has been married to Vladimir (Andrey Smirnov) for two years. Both have grown children -- Elena’s son Sergey (Alexey Rozin) is married with a couple of kids, Vladimir’s daughter Katya (Yelena Lyadova) is, in his words, a “hedonist.”
A wealthy man -- we don’t know how he made his money -- Vladimir financially supports Katya, doing a father’s duty. But when asked to help Sergey pay for college for his son Sasha (Igor Ogurtsov), Vladimir hesitates.
The layabout, jobless drinker Sergey isn’t blood, and Vladimir coldly demands more time to decide whether to provide the cash that will keep Sasha, who is about as motivated as his father, out of the army.
That is about as much about “Elena” that can be revealed without spoiling the film, in large part because of the way writer/director Andrey Zvyagaintsev has crafted his picture.
As was the case with his equally excellent “The Return,” Zvyagaintsev builds “Elena” very slowly, then puts the key scenes in relatively fast motion. That technique, which is augmented by a pulsing Philip Glass score, builds tension and demands a close study of small details that later become revealing.
Some of those are obvious early.
Vladmir is, unquestionably, a member of the new Russian upper class, comfortably wealthy and selfishly cruel. Elena is, in many ways, a peasant, a nurse who married her rich patient and is now more his servant than wife.
Sergey is a worthless son, who would rather play video games with Sasha than talk to his mother when she shows up at their project apartment with money to keep them alive. Katya flat out says she doesn’t care about her father, just his money.
That description makes Elena seem to be the saint in a bunch of sinners. But Zvyagaintsev doesn’t make the film that easy. She’s complicated and conflicted, trapped between her husband and comfortable life and the family that drives her life. Markina has won a handful of European awards for her performance and they’re well deserved.
The film is smartly shot widescreen and is full of lingering views not only of the characters but little symbols like the tangled branches of trees and Sergey’s baby boy, who appears to represent innocence surrounded by corruption that* he very likely cannot escape.
“Elena” took four Golden Eagles, the Russian equivalent of the Oscar, including best picture, for good reason. It is a captivating picture that pulls the viewer into its dark, greed-filled world, telling a story that smartly doesn’t fully resolve -- a true reflection of the Russian society in which it takes place.



More...