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Leviathan

Leviathan - image - a film by Andrey Zvyagintzev
Leviathan - image - a film by Andrey Zvyagintzev
Leviathan - image - a film by Andrey Zvyagintzev
Leviathan - image - a film by Andrey Zvyagintzev
Leviathan - image - a film by Andrey Zvyagintzev
Leviathan - image - a film by Andrey Zvyagintzev
Leviathan - image - a film by Andrey Zvyagintzev
NOW AVAILABLE TO OWN OR VIEW ON DEMAND
Leviathan - poster - a film by Andrey Zvyagintzev
Magnificent. A new Russian masterpiece. Acted and directed with unflinching ambition… It isn’t afraid of massive symbolic moments and operatic gestures; they live and throb in my head hours after the final credit crawl. So much cinema is content with small fry – minor themes and manageable topics. ‘Leviathan’ is hunting bigger game. It is a movie with real grandeur.
Highly recommended. A magnificent allegory for a broader malaise afflicting Russia’s body politic. Extremely thrilling and aesthetically beautiful. A wonderful, grand drama.
Jason Di Rosso
ABC RADIO NATIONAL
Masterly. A powerful experience. A major new film from one of contemporary cinema’s most important directors.
David Stratton
THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
Majestic. A brutal masterpiece. Certainly one of the best films of the past year.
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Cast: Alexey Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova, Roman Madyanov, Vladimir Vdovitchenkov
Duration: 141mins
Country of Origin: Russia
M
Mature themes, coarse language, sexual references, nudity and violence
Magnificent. A new Russian masterpiece. Acted and directed with unflinching ambition… It isn’t afraid of massive symbolic moments and operatic gestures; they live and throb in my head hours after the final credit crawl. So much cinema is content with small fry – minor themes and manageable topics. ‘Leviathan’ is hunting bigger game. It is a movie with real grandeur.
Highly recommended. A magnificent allegory for a broader malaise afflicting Russia’s body politic. Extremely thrilling and aesthetically beautiful. A wonderful, grand drama.
Jason Di Rosso
ABC RADIO NATIONAL
Masterly. A powerful experience. A major new film from one of contemporary cinema’s most important directors.
David Stratton
THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
Majestic. A brutal masterpiece. Certainly one of the best films of the past year.

WINNER – PRIX DU SCENARIO - 2014 CANNES INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
WINNER – 2015 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS - Best Foreign Language Film
NOMINEE – 2015 ACADEMY AWARDS - Best Foreign Language Film
NOMINEE – 2015 BAFTA AWARDS - Best Foreign Language Film
WINNER – BEST FILM – 2014 BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL
WINNER – BEST FILM – 2014 MUNICH FILM FESTIVAL
WINNER – BEST FILM – 2014 ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS
WINNER – BEST FILM – 2014 ABU DHABI FILM FESTIVAL

The stunning, Oscar-nominated new film from modern Russian master Andrey Zvyagintsev (The Return, Elena) LEVIATHAN is a gripping parable of class, faith and corruption, centering on a dispute between a small-time mechanic and his local authorities that reaps unimaginable and extraordinary consequences.

Kolia (the magnetic Alexey Serebryakov) lives in a coastal village near the Barents Sea in Northern Russia, running an auto-repair shop from the garage of his childhood home, shared with young wife Lilya (Elena Lyadova) and his teenage son from a previous marriage.

The family’s world is under threat: Vadim Sergeyich (Roman Madyanov), the imperious town Mayor, has slapped a compulsory acquisition order on Kolia’s prime land, earmarking the site for a development of undetermined but dubious funding (and offering risible, token compensation). To Sergeyich’s great surprise, Kolia enlists the help of ex-army friend Dmitri (Vladimir Vdovitchenkov), now a hotshot lawyer from Moscow. Dmitri has uncovered some highly incriminating evidence that he believes will force the Mayor to back down, even if he has secrets of his own. Soon tempers and passions are inflamed, events spiral out of control, and lives are placed at stake.

Zvyagintsev’s deftly-drawn and morally complex thriller is an electrifying, vodka-fuelled examination of the familial, sexual and judicial tangles of ordinary human lives, played out against the monstrous machinations of Putin’s seemingly unchecked regime. Saturated with incredible imagery, superb performances and sly, Kafkaesque humour, this astounding and frequently surprising masterwork should, quite simply, not be missed.

Leviathan - poster - a film by Andrey Zvyagintzev
NOW AVAILABLE TO OWN OR VIEW ON DEMAND