The greatest movie ever made..!

Fantastic!

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

The main character gives you a wrong impression from the get-go. You start believing he is a missing part for his family happiness. Old style, mostly brutal, treatment towards his sons somehow make you think it will help them in a long run. But it won't. As we find out later, the father is simply trying to mask his weaknesses with his false toughness. The irony is that his death serves as a turning point for his boys, not his life. They need him to be dead to learn a lesson.

each occasion when I saw it, I perceived it as a sermon. about God and His love for humankind. remembering Tarkovsky and his universe, the tradition of Orthodox Church and the parenthood in today society. and this did it more than a beautiful film. it did an useful one. for the science to remind basic things who defines the life. for the image of sacrifice . for the clear and precise definition of love. for the remind of the traditional status of father in family. for the challenges who define the sons. a Russian film. by a great contemporary director. this is all. and it is enough because it could not be reduced at a cinema school or national sensibility. its message is universal and it is defined by the force of honest , clear sermon status. admirable work, it is useful for the viewer in profound senses.

Andrey Zvyagintsev's movie "The Return" is a modern Russian masterpiece in itself because most of the movies made in Soviet Russia used to have a political message incorporated within. But, this post-communism movie tries to sway from such a narrative by telling a story of a father and his two sons (all independent characters) in a fairly apolitical fashion. It can also be validly argued that this movie gets away from Russian film-making traditions and tends to take inspiration from western road movies, in which characters go on a journey to eventually come across a big revelation or find their true demons. This movie was awarded with the Golden Lion Award at Venice Film Festival, and it does deserve all the praise that it got. "The Return" has just a perfect blend of horror, suspense and drama; which all comes wrapped in an art-house kind of film-making package. Therefore, this movie cannot be put into a specific genre, but the quandary does not end there. This movie also leaves a lot of questions unanswered; such as, the contents of the box found on the island by the father, or the absence of the father's image in the picture that Andrei holds up during the final sequence etc. Often times in movies, the directors choose to keep bits of information from the viewers in order to keep the overall message of the movie open ended. Thus, every viewer is entitled to interpret the movie in whichever way he/she wants. But, it would not be wrong to say here that keeping big secrets from the audience in this movie maybe works against it. Spoon-feeding each and every plot detail to the audience is clearly bad, but keeping half of the relevant plot elements in the dark is equally bad, especially when it does not serve any valid purpose.This movie also derives a lot of cinematic elements from Russian film- making pioneer Andrei Tarkovsky. The incorporation of all the natural elements, i.e. water, fire, air and earth in the mise-en-scene play an important role throughout the film. Tarkovsky was also known to use such methods in his movies such as "Stalker". The island that the father takes the kids to could also be compared to the zone from the movie "Stalker". Thus, in a way the father could be compared to the stalker, and his sons could be compared to the writer and the professor from Tarkovsky's film. Furthermore, the slow pan of the camera in the underwater sequence from the very beginning of the movie can also be compared to the dreaming sequence of "Stalker," where the camera similarly pans over various abandoned objects sunk in the water in the zone. Some analysts have also argued that perhaps the father was dead all along. Thus, making the entire movie a construction of the kids' imagination and memories. This kind of narrative has also been explored by Tarkovsky in his acclaimed movie "The Mirror". Thus, another parallel could be drawn here as to where Zvyagintsev found his inspiration while making "The Return".The biblical aspects of the movie can also not be ignored. The father can be compared to Jesus Christ, because there is a lot of Christian imagery portrayed through him. Most notable example would be Andrea Mantegna's painting, The Lamentation Over the Dead Christ; which is recreated in the film by showing the father sleeping on the bed. Also, the story takes place in 7 days, which is exactly the number of days, according to the Bible, that god took to create the earth. In a way, the father resurrected from his 12 year absence from his sons' lives and taught them valuable life lessons, only to die at the end of the 7th day.One might think that incorporating all the aforementioned elements in one film might be disastrous. But, Zvyagintsev able artistry was effective in creating a beautiful final picture, without creating too much chaos, even though a few dots were left unconnected.

I've watched several Russian films within the last few months and this one takes the cake. It's simple and complex, quiet and intense, timid and bold all at the same time. The movie could be a horror film, a drama, a thriller, a romance, it all depends on how you twist it. Like other Russian films, it starts out slow, building with each scene. I didn't at first know really where it was going to go, which intrigued me. I couldn't figure this one out, it wasn't in your face obvious, it made you want to watch to see who would be hurt. I felt the lack of the mother image was a little upsetting. I feel like if the mother would have been shown in a final scene it would have been concluded better. We are left hanging in a sense because we have no idea how the boys return home, if they return home, or if their mother even cares. After all, the boys were gone longer than expected. For me, a clearer ending would have made it a 10. Unless, of course, there is a sequel, if that's the case, then the ending makes sense. But I feel as though there are too many loose ends for me to completely love it and give it a perfect score, it's a very strong 8. Watch it, you won't regret it.