An estranged father returns to spend quality time with his two sons Andrey and Ivan, who live with their mother and grandmother in a remote Russian village. What starts out as a short fishing trip is extended and becomes intertwined with business to which the father must attend, and their journey is transformed into a physical and emotional endurance test set in the context of the relationship between three males in a patriarchal society.
Little prior detail is disclosed, so the reason for the father’s long term absence and his present circumstances remain mysterious although there’s a suspicion that he may have underworld connections. Photographs discovered by his sons hint at the possibility of a second family elsewhere.
Each character displays a distinctive mental resilience – the father in his generally harsh treatment of his sons, Ivan through a rebellious spirit that refuses to yield to that treatment, and finally Andrey in his pragmatic approach to coping with the circumstances that bring to a close their short time together.
In summary a stark film, encompassing an engrossing study of family relationships in a society far removed from the drawing rooms of the soi disant liberal intelligentsia.
Well worth seeing.
1 Comment
May 28, 2008 at 5:58 pm
I like Russian film. We once had a Russian film club here, but it seems to have disappeared