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The Return

Vozvrashchenie (The Return)

2003

Andrey Zvyagintsev

Vladimir Garin, Ivan Dobronravov, Konstantin Lavronenko, Natalia Vdovina ...

7.4

6,823

Drama In contemporary Russia young brothers Vanya and Andrey have grown a deep attachment to each other to make up for their fatherless childhood. Running home after a fight with neighborhood kids, the boys are shocked to discover their father has returned after a 12-year absence. With their mother's uneasy blessing Vanya and Andrey set out on what they believe will be a fishing vacation with their taciturn father.

	Media	Author	Review
		Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"[It] does not conceal information from the audience, which would be a technique of manipulation, but from the boys, which is a technique of drama (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"
		Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"It looks and feels like a classic (...) 'The Return' unfolds like a mysterious and disquieting parable"
		Dave Kehr The New York Times	"Visually the film is a marvel (...) Zvyagintsev creates a most moving tension between his archetypal themes and the bristling specificity of his characters"
		Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader	"Beautifully structured and emotionally wrenching (...) Zvyagintsev elicits first-rate performances from his male leads"
		Andrew Sarris The New York Observer	"[A] brilliantly acted and photographed, yet strangely frustrating fable"
		Scott Tobias AV Club	"Few will dispute Zvyagintsev's ability to coax remarkable performances from his child actors (...) [An] expertly controlled film"
		Andrew Collins Radio Times	"Zvyagintsev creates a stunningly beautiful puzzle that brilliantly captures the boys' confusion (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Jamie Russell BBC	"It's a beautifully realized debut from an assured filmmaker (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		David Hughes Empire	"[It] is a quiet and disquieting masterpiece which gets under your skin and stays there long after you leave the cinema (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Ed Gonzalez Slant	"The vistas are gorgeous and the score by Andrey Dergatchev makes for great comedown music, but the story mawkishly strains for parallelism (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"

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