Synopsis
Elena is a woman of a certain age, living in a chic Moscow apartment with her wealthy businessman husband Vladimir. While Vladimir is estranged from his daughter, he does not mask his contempt for Elena's own child, who seems to be in constant need of financial assistance. When Vladimir suddenly falls ill and his volatile, nihilistic daughter comes back into the picture, Elena must hatch a plan for her own survival.
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Excellence, from modern-day Russian master filmmaker!
I love foreign films, and I love foreign filmmakers that, movie after movie, manage to raise their game while always charmingly representing their culture. We're lucky today to enjoy the work of some of the best foreign filmmakers from all over the world. From Bong Joon-ho to Farhadi to Cuaron and Inarritu, we get to taste a bit from every culture presented beautifully film-wise. But of course, there are a ton of other great foreign filmmakers, some very well-known, some a little less, that are up there with the upper mentioned. And when it comes to Russia, I feel like the modern-day director "representative" of this country is shamefully unknown in the film community. Having seen only three of his films, I can confidently say that Zvyagintsev is one of the best filmmakers living today.
'Elena' is one of Andrey's lesser-known films. I think that 'Leviathan' is the film he's most known for, and rightfully so because that's an astonishing piece of filmmaking, but I believe that Andrey didn't jump far from his last film when he made his 2014's Canne winner. And that's my way of praising 'Elena.'
Furbish with Almodovar-like settings, beautiful color palettes, and framing, 'Elena' allures you aesthetically from the get-go. Andrey puts a lot of attention on the colors he uses in constructing his imagery. I remember playing a guessing game about movie frames with a friend of mine a while back. My friend asked me to guess a difficult-to-guess frame from Andrey's 'Loveless,' and I guessed it right. That's not me bragging, although I felt proud about that guess. But to get to my point, that well thought was the whole framing of that film that even its most irrelevant imagery stayed with me. And the visual work done in 'Loveless' seems like it's not a one-case scenario because I see the same visual virtuosity displayed in 'Elena' too.
The film unfolds its story calmly. Andrey sure takes his time with this one, but I think that every "drag" here helps you read more into the characters and digest the film better as you're watching it. 'Elena' is very well studied. Andrey is in complete control and navigates the movie with a Russian sense of discipline. I like how Andrey managed to fill the film with simple but effective symbolism. I like how he, at the same time, executes the movie flawlessly and also makes his commentary through it. And I'm not a fan of those types of films that use the medium to voice out a message, but I don't mind it as long as I think they're firstly doing justice to the characters, and consequently, to the story, and that's the case with 'Elena.'
To conclude this, 'Elena' is a stealthy presentation of contemporary life (it's like a mini Parasite) that's filled with exemplary camera work (there's a beautiful zoom-in after an excellent tracing shot) and showcases an intimate and enigmatic central performance. 'Leviathan' alone is enough to call Zvyagintsev a modern master, but this film has elevated him even more. I thoroughly enjoyed this!
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imamedov
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Excellence, from modern-day Russian master filmmaker!
I love foreign films, and I love foreign filmmakers that, movie after movie, manage to raise their game while always charmingly representing their culture. We're lucky today to enjoy the work of some of the best foreign filmmakers from all over the world. From Bong Joon-ho to Farhadi to Cuaron and Inarritu, we get to taste a bit from every culture presented beautifully film-wise. But of course, there are a ton of other great foreign filmmakers, some very well-known, some a little less, that are up there with the upper mentioned. And when it comes to Russia, I feel like the modern-day director "representative" of this country is shamefully unknown in the film community. Having seen only three of his films, I can confidently say that Zvyagintsev is one of the best filmmakers living today.
'Elena' is one of Andrey's lesser-known films. I think that 'Leviathan' is the film he's most known for, and rightfully so because that's an astonishing piece of filmmaking, but I believe that Andrey didn't jump far from his last film when he made his 2014's Canne winner. And that's my way of praising 'Elena.'
Furbish with Almodovar-like settings, beautiful color palettes, and framing, 'Elena' allures you aesthetically from the get-go. Andrey puts a lot of attention on the colors he uses in constructing his imagery. I remember playing a guessing game about movie frames with a friend of mine a while back. My friend asked me to guess a difficult-to-guess frame from Andrey's 'Loveless,' and I guessed it right. That's not me bragging, although I felt proud about that guess. But to get to my point, that well thought was the whole framing of that film that even its most irrelevant imagery stayed with me. And the visual work done in 'Loveless' seems like it's not a one-case scenario because I see the same visual virtuosity displayed in 'Elena' too.
The film unfolds its story calmly. Andrey sure takes his time with this one, but I think that every "drag" here helps you read more into the characters and digest the film better as you're watching it. 'Elena' is very well studied. Andrey is in complete control and navigates the movie with a Russian sense of discipline. I like how Andrey managed to fill the film with simple but effective symbolism. I like how he, at the same time, executes the movie flawlessly and also makes his commentary through it. And I'm not a fan of those types of films that use the medium to voice out a message, but I don't mind it as long as I think they're firstly doing justice to the characters, and consequently, to the story, and that's the case with 'Elena.'
To conclude this, 'Elena' is a stealthy presentation of contemporary life (it's like a mini Parasite) that's filled with exemplary camera work (there's a beautiful zoom-in after an excellent tracing shot) and showcases an intimate and enigmatic central performance. 'Leviathan' alone is enough to call Zvyagintsev a modern master, but this film has elevated him even more. I thoroughly enjoyed this!
turkan
imamedov
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shaban
3 y