Andrei Zvyagintsev is one of the most interesting among active filmmakers today. He has only made three feature films. Each of those three films is built, to put it in literary terms, on the scale of a novella rather than an epic novel. Each film delves with aspects of family bonding—or at least that provides the least common factor for the tales, only to multiply and enlarge on aspects of an individual’s life beyond the family, subjects often relating to psychology, politics, sociology and religion. And that is what makes any Zvyagintsev film interesting—its universality and its inward looking questions, all open ended for the viewer to ponder over after the movie gets over. And Elena is true to that spirit.
Famous Russian novels (later made into films) often had for their titles mere names—Anna Karenina or Dr Zhivago. But those novels went beyond those ordinary names.
Famous Russian novels (later made into films) often had for their titles mere names—Anna Karenina or Dr Zhivago. But those novels went beyond those ordinary names.
- 2/1/2012
- by Jugu Abraham
- DearCinema.com
(Grigori Kozintsev, 1964/ 1971, PG, Mr Bongo Films)
Grigori Kozintsev (1905-1973) was a prominent figure in Soviet cinema from his late teens until his death, making ambitious political films until after the second world war when he turned to literary adaptations, concluding with his classic versions of Hamlet and King Lear. Both were shot in black-and-white and widescreen on austere Estonian locations beside the Baltic using Boris Pasternak's translations (with Shakespeare's text as subtitles) and music by Shostakovich, and they're based on years of thought and study as revealed in Kozintsev's book Shakespeare: Time and Conscience. The great Russian actor Innokenti Smoktunovsky is a forceful, sane, sensitive Hamlet trapped in a prison of political intrigue, and the film, set in a Tudor Denmark, is vigorous, intelligent and visually stunning. Lear is played by the Estonian actor Jüri Järvet (dubbed into Russian) and is truly old, mad and heartbreaking, and the picture...
Grigori Kozintsev (1905-1973) was a prominent figure in Soviet cinema from his late teens until his death, making ambitious political films until after the second world war when he turned to literary adaptations, concluding with his classic versions of Hamlet and King Lear. Both were shot in black-and-white and widescreen on austere Estonian locations beside the Baltic using Boris Pasternak's translations (with Shakespeare's text as subtitles) and music by Shostakovich, and they're based on years of thought and study as revealed in Kozintsev's book Shakespeare: Time and Conscience. The great Russian actor Innokenti Smoktunovsky is a forceful, sane, sensitive Hamlet trapped in a prison of political intrigue, and the film, set in a Tudor Denmark, is vigorous, intelligent and visually stunning. Lear is played by the Estonian actor Jüri Järvet (dubbed into Russian) and is truly old, mad and heartbreaking, and the picture...
- 10/15/2011
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Shakespeare may be all about the words, but it's the images and music you remember most from "The Bard Goes Global," a well-curated film series starting Wednesday at the Walter Reade Theater.
Again and again, feasts for the eyes supersede the versification.
Take Grigori Kozintsev's criminally overlooked "King Lear/Korol Lir" (1971). Many of its scenes rate as pure, head-spinning genius: the way we peer down on Lear and his Fool as they struggle against howling winds, with Dmitri Shostakovich's score matching the storm in shrieky gusts.
Again and again, feasts for the eyes supersede the versification.
Take Grigori Kozintsev's criminally overlooked "King Lear/Korol Lir" (1971). Many of its scenes rate as pure, head-spinning genius: the way we peer down on Lear and his Fool as they struggle against howling winds, with Dmitri Shostakovich's score matching the storm in shrieky gusts.
- 7/13/2009
- by By ELISABETH VINCENTELLI
- NYPost.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.