Leviathan

Parental Rating: R

Contains: Language    Nudity    Sex    Adult Content    

Jill's Review

Opens February 6, 2015

Runs 140 minutes

This movie is nominated for best foreign film from Russia for ths year's Oscars.

Kolya and his family live in a small coastal town near the Barents Sea in the home that has been in his family for decades. The mayor decides that he wants to demolish this house and has claimed it through Russia's form of Emminent Domain. Kolya recruits a former Army buddy who is now a government lawyer in Moscow, Dmitri, to help him dig up dirt on the mayor and fight for his home. This leads to even more tragedy.

This movie has received a lot of acclaim. I thought it was good. It is very long and there is plenty of reading - the Russians seem to be very wordy. The atmosphere is excellent. The scenery is beautiful. But, I didn't really like any of the characters all that much. The viewer has to guess at a lot of the backstory. I would have liked to know more about Kolya's wife (actually his second wife). We only learn a little in bits and pieces. And also why his son Roma was so angry all the time. I guess I was expecting some big conspiracy movie but it just turned out to be more of a small tragedy. Anyway, if you love foreign films and have the time, you might try to see this before Oscar night.

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