When a sudden illness and an unexpected reunion threaten dutiful housewife Elena's potential inheritance, she must hatch a desperate plan...
A sombre, elegantly shot parable.
As a snapshot of contemporary Russian life, Elena is a stark and impressive piece of work. Under its brooding exterior is a solemnly effective thriller, too. Recommended.
A slow-burning but engrossing drama that takes an intriguingly dark view of the sanctity of family in order to explore the ways in which bad seeds have a habit of flourishing in any environment.
The cinematography is gorgeous and mesmerising, while Philip Glass's score is nervily atmospheric.
Zvyagintsev, who also made the magnificent The Return (2003), is proving himself a major talent.
It is superbly shot and directed; it does not offer a thriller-type ending – the narrative is resolved in a disquieting minor key. A deeply satisfying film.
It may seem slow and lugubrious but it draws you into these complex, contradictory lives the way a spider lures a fly into a web.
Leaves you with a sour taste in your mouth. Its condemnation of the working classes as ignorant spongers will go down better at the Daily Mail than it will around these parts.
It's a gripping, resonant tale, and Nadezhda Markina is outstanding as Elena, and far more sympathetic than perhaps she should be.
An elegant, noirish drama.
A perfectly formed drama that gradually takes hold and doesn’t let go.
Never mind the British, when it comes to distinctive drama, the Russians are coming.
Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow from Friday January 18, 2013, until Monday January 21, 2013. More info: http://www.glasgowfilm.org/theatre/
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