Loveless

These days, every other film seems to be an audition to make a Marvel movie — but not Loveless. This is cinema of the first order.

This is the downer as an art form, a feelbad film of gargantuan reach and effect, and a brave, horrified commentary on a whole nation.

The dramatic aesthetic of a movie like Loveless — rock-solid yet leisurely in its observance, grounded yet metaphorical — makes it a quietly commanding film.

One feels in the film's punishing bleakness a yearning for transcendence.

Come for the near-endless rows that convincingly carry the venom of a collapsed, resentful marriage; stay for the extended critique of Russia’s contemporary spiritual vacancy.

While not the same league as “Leviathan,” Zyvagintsev’s latest slow-burn look at anguished people tortured by problems beyond their control displays his mastery of the form.

Although Leviathan, Zvyagintsev’s previous and far-superior effort, was hardly a masterclass in nuance, a palpable sense of empathy and flashes of humor largely compensated for its lack of subtlety. These are sorely lacking in Loveless.

This is the latest drama from famed Russian director Zvyagintsev. The plot is relatively simple: a divorcing couple decides to start their own lives anew. Neither the father nor the mother plan to include their only 12-year old son onto their future lives. He finds our that his destiny is a boarding school and decides to disappear. Through this personal story Zvyagintsev managed to show that the the whole governing structure of society is deeply sick. It produces parents who lack inner kindness, and it becomes hereditary. They do not have feelings toward each other and toward their children, and their children fall into the same trap. A group of volunteers who keep looking for the boy after police refused to do it, is shown as competent, compassionate people, so drastically different from police. Last scene where the mother trains in Russian Olympian uniform is symbolic of modern Russia that is cold, harsh, devastating, loveless. It starts at the top with Russia's foreign policy and descends all the way through to citizens' lives. Similar to his previous film "Leviathan", this film is a verdict to the regime but on a very different level yet done as masterfully. With this film Andrey Zvyagintsev once again proved that he is the best contemporary Russian film director. Must See.

Acting of artists not so **** photography is good No dialogue for lost son

Big disappointment.Shallow,one dimensional,single-minded and very mean **** expertly crafted for sure,lots of beautiful shots a la Tarkovsky and so on.

Cruel, artless, one-dimensional caricatures of human beings. How this got a best picture Oscar nomination when the astonishing In the Fade—Germany's selection—didn't is beyond me. I was interested to see a glimpse of present-day Russia, but this movie didn't show me anything that felt remotely real.

Un film psycho-socio-dramatique qui pourrait être tout à fait… et typiquement français ! on y retrouve en effet la lenteur et le néant des enjeux pathétiques d’un pathos social très prononcé (et très dramatique, oui, oui, on l’a compris…) concernant un divorce en cours dont le gamin, fils unique, fait évidemment les frais (le pauvre !). Le futur ex-mari organise déjà sa reconversion (avec une jeune bécasse… déjà en cloque !) et la future ex-épouse de même avec un dégarni de 47 piges… et déjà deux de tension le glandu (environ, le pauvre !… enfin, il a au moins du pognon, je crois.). Et après, il paraît que le gamin disparaît mais je n’ai pas tenu jusque là, loin s’en faut… Faute de film regardable en effet, difficile de tenir le coup et la distance, car ce machin est russe mais vient surtout d’un réalisateur qui a un et demi de tension ou alors trop de vodka dans le sang pour s’être réveillé à temps… Ainsi, à l’aune des plus de deux plombes que dure son film d’escargot, le seul intérêt potentiel que l’on pourrait y trouver serait le suivant : le diffuser tous les jours dans les goulags afin que, suffisamment abrutis, les prisonniers ne pensent même plus à s’évader : ils tombent en catalepsie ou entament leur quatrième bouteille de vodka (toujours bien frappée malgré le réchauffement climatique) ou bien ils meurent tout simplement d’ennui !