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MOVIES / ON DVD / THE RETURN
The Return

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The Return (2004)

96%
95%
89%
N/A
N/A
N/A
96 %
Reviews Counted: 74 Fresh: 71  Rotten:3 Average Rating: 8.1/10
 
Consensus: A suspenseful but perplexing thriller.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

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... 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 mother's uneasy blessing Vanya and Andrey set out on what they believe will be a fishing vacation with their taciturn father. Though at first ecstatic to be reunited with the father they've only known from a faded photograph, the boys strain under the weight of their dad's awkward and increasingly brutal efforts to make up for a missing decade of parental supervision. Vanya and Andrey find themselves alternately tested, scolded, scrutinized and ignored by their father through a changing series of encounters and hardships. As truck stops and cafés give way to rain-swept, primevally beautiful wildernesscoastline, Vanya's doubts about his father give way to open defiance. Andrey's powerful need to bond with a father he's never known begins, in turn, to distance him from Vanya. Vanya and his father's test of wills escalates into bitter hostility and sudden violence as the trio arrives at their mysterious island destination. The dubious sanctuary of a rickety light tower, the desperate reassurance of a stolen knife, the cryptic allure of a rusting strong box and the fleeting safety of a hastily patched boat give evidence to the ultimately tragic conclusion of Vanya and Andrey's harrowing father and son journey and the heartbreakingly transitory nature of their reunion. -- © Kino International [More]

Genre: Foreign Films

Starring: Ivan Dobronravov, Vladimir Garin, Konstantin Lavronenko, Natalia Vdovina

Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev
Screenwriter: Vladimir Moiseenko, Alexander Novotsky
Producer: Dmitry Lesnevsky

DVD Info

Release:

Oct 19, 2004

[DVD Details]

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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Ratings Image
A

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'?

Full Review | comment Comment
09/09/07
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer
Ratings Image
A-

A harrowing, elusively biblical account… echoes of Abraham and Isaac, the Gospel parables about fathers and pairs of sons, and the Second Coming.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/11/06
Steven D. Greydanus
Decent Films Guide
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
02/09/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
7/10

magnificent return of a great cinema tradition to the world stage

Full Review | comment Comment
10/11/05
Dragan Antulov
Draxblog Movie Reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
07/21/05
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
4/5

Si uno se queda sólo en la primera lectura del drama familiar, la experiencia puede ser bastante desconcertante.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/08/05
Enrique Buchichio
Uruguay Total
Ratings Image
4/5

Um estudo de personagens cuja força se torna ainda maior em função das belas performances do trio principal.

comment Comment
01/18/05
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
Ratings Image
N/A

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.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/04/05
Paul Matwychuk
Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)
Ratings Image
90/100

... an unsentimental film about how childhood lingers until it abruptly ends.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/26/04
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Ratings Image
4.5/5

an absorbing psychological drama and coming-of-age story in the guise of a road movie

Full Review | comment Comment
12/15/04
Jay Antani
Los Angeles Alternative
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
12/06/04
J. Robert Parks
Looking Closer
Ratings Image
5/5

What begins as a simple road trip becomes a spiritual journey, the classic passage from boy to man.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/20/04
Peter Howell
Toronto Star
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
3.5/5

The story sidesteps all expectations and does not go where you might expect.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/20/04
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies
Ratings Image
2.5/4

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.

Full Review | comment 1 Comment
08/20/04
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

A remarkable achievement.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/08/04
Rex Roberts
Film Journal International
Ratings Image
N/A

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.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/29/04
Boyd van Hoeij
european-films.net
Ratings Image
4/4

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.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/29/04
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)
Ratings Image
3/5

A quiet film.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/16/04
Jay Boyar
Orlando Sentinel
Ratings Image
3.5/5

The Return begins on an ominous note and stays there for 105 absorbing, frustrating minutes.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/15/04
Steve Schneider
Orlando Weekly
Ratings Image
B+

There's a bleak, haunting quality to 'The Return'...it combines a feeling of deep poignancy with a strong vein of menace.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/10/04
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion
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• The Return at Rotten Tomatoes
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