The Return (2004)
96 %
Reviews Counted: 74 Fresh: 71 Rotten:3 Average Rating: 8.1/10
Consensus:
A suspenseful but perplexing thriller.
Rated: Not Rated
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Theatrical Release: Feb 6, 2004 Limited
Synopsis: 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 twelve year absence. With their... [More]
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Ivan Dobronravov, Vladimir Garin, Konstantin Lavronenko, Natalia Vdovina
Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev
Screenwriter: Vladimir Moiseenko, Alexander Novotsky
Producer: Dmitry Lesnevsky
Screenwriter: Vladimir Moiseenko, Alexander Novotsky
Producer: Dmitry Lesnevsky
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
Like each episode of Kieslowski's Decalogue, The Return is a small but potent story. It leads us to ask: Is it ever enough to just 'trust and obey'?
Comment
09/09/07
A harrowing, elusively biblical account… echoes of Abraham and Isaac, the Gospel parables about fathers and pairs of sons, and the Second Coming.
02/11/06
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02/09/06
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07/21/05
Top Critic
Si uno se queda sólo en la primera lectura del drama familiar, la experiencia puede ser bastante desconcertante.
05/08/05
Um estudo de personagens cuja força se torna ainda maior em função das belas performances do trio principal.
01/18/05
The Return feels like an experiment designed to find out how much basic plot information you can withhold from an audience and still have an interesting movie.
01/04/05
... an unsentimental film about how childhood lingers until it abruptly ends.
12/26/04
an absorbing psychological drama and coming-of-age story in the guise of a road movie
12/15/04
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12/06/04
What begins as a simple road trip becomes a spiritual journey, the classic passage from boy to man.
08/20/04
Top Critic
The story sidesteps all expectations and does not go where you might expect.
08/20/04
To any masochist who's been pining for all those cliched tropes associated with Russian cinema -- ponderous pacing and arcane symbolism shot through a lens darkly -- this will seem a welcome blast from the past.
08/20/04
Top Critic
This solid film tells the story of the brothers Andrey and Ivan. It is not the particular story of these brothers: it is the universal story of kids struggling to grow up.
07/29/04
We’re sent out of the theater unsettled and somewhat mystified by what we saw, but exhilarated to have been in the presence of a truly impressive filmmaking debut.
07/29/04
The Return begins on an ominous note and stays there for 105 absorbing, frustrating minutes.
07/15/04
There's a bleak, haunting quality to 'The Return'...it combines a feeling of deep poignancy with a strong vein of menace.
07/10/04
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