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Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Critic Consensus: No consensus yet.
All Critics (61) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (57) | Rotten (4) | DVD (1)
Sturdy performances, fine photography from Mikhail Krichman, good use of music by Philip Glass and a pleasingly terse script make for incisive, gripping drama.
In different hands, "Elena" might have been a noir thriller, but this serving of cinematic borscht is as cold as a Russian winter.
"Elena" is a riveting psychological suspense film.
A quiet, subtle mystery whose long, penetrating takes have drawn comparisons to Andrei Tarkovsky and whose mordantly ironic conclusion may remind you of Claude Chabrol.
Zvyaginstsev makes the most of the ghastly settings, which include a backyard that ominously features nuclear cones - and the kinds of compartmentalized living spaces that Hitchcock used for droll effect in "Rear Window."
It's a sort of slow-boil Russian noir, if that genre exists, and if it doesn't, it does now.
Many people can't abide slow-building subtitled films about relentlessly unhappy people. But closet pessimists like myself and the Cannes judges will find Elena's sense of impending doom oddly satisfying.
A chilly noir about the beaten paths and icy ruts of Russian life in the capital, post-Communism. In a land of schemers, Elena suggests, the urban cloisters of Moscow's elite are as self-sealing as the lowly masses' stifling Soviet-era flats.
The kind of family drama that gives family dramas a good name.
Though very Russian, there is an extremely universal story at the heart of this film ...
A perfectly formed drama that gradually takes hold and doesn't let go.
It's very gloomy. It's very Russian. It's as powerful as any picture released this season.
An intriguing drama of fascinating moral complexity and ambiguity, with an elegant direction that makes use of several long takes to show us the everyday life of its main character and the drastic choices that she decides to make in view of some hard circumstances.
Super Reviewer
'Elena'. A beautifully reserved piece of filmmaking exploring the class divide in modern Moscow. The direction is meticulous, patient and purposeful, capturing little moments and stunning imagery. A most memorable, simple score does wonders too.
"Elena," third feature film from Russian director Andrei Zvyagintsev, is a genuine work of art, but it's not a particularly good one. Zvyagintsev thinks deeply about the human condition and brings a real artistic eye to this story of post-Soviet class formation. But his minimalist style is underwhelming here. I didn't end up caring about the characters very much. And I think this was because of Zvyagintsev's cold style of direction and minimalist approach to story development. He strips things to the bone, which heightens the moral issues at play. But it also denudes the film. It strips the human dimension away. The eponymous main character is a nurse from a lower-class background who ends up marrying a wealthy patient for whom she is caring. Trouble ensues when her feckless grandson needs financial help to get into college and avoid service in the Army. Elena wants her husband to bribe the college admissions counselors. Her rich husband wants to teach the boy a lesson by not rescuing him. Conflict arises. Big time. I won't tell you how things turn out, but I will say that something gruesome happens. I love this basic story. I just wish Zvyagintsev was talented enough to bring it alive in a brutally compelling way. But he is not. The film is ultimately quite flat. The minimalism feels more flaccid and diffuse than incisive and penetrating. A disappointment. But it's a real pleasure to see a filmmaker with a global following bringing a serious story like this to the screen. Even when his films don't fully succeed, Zvyagintsev is a far more valuable filmmaker than someone like Tim Burton.
Vladimir(Andrei Smirnov) has been married to Elena(Nadezhda Markina), a former nurse, for the past couple of years. Since he is wealthy, she need not ask for anything material, giving her pension to her unemployed son Sergei(Alexey Rozin), so he can support his family which now includes a newborn child. Actually, there is one thing she can ask him and that is to pay for her grandson Sasha(Igor Ogurtsov) to go to university, so that he does not get drafted and a one way ticket to Ossetia. When Vladimir hesitates, she challenges him by bringing up his wayward daughter Katerina(Yelana Lyadova). Regardless, he says he will think about it. On the surface, "Elena" has a story that is not dissimilar from any number of movies I could name. What makes the difference here is the skillful filmmaking with its shifting viewpoints in exploring the class differences in modern day Russia and the resultant moral decay. And one could say Elena's slide begins with the small step of lighting a candle for Vladimir in a church whose beliefs she does not share. On the other hand, maybe she does the wrong things for the right reasons except we are never quite clear which brings up some very interesting questions. Is Sergei actively looking for work or is he just lazy? Would Sasha ending up in the army be the worst thing for him? There is one conversation that sheds light on this between Vladimir and Katerina(who I like for this, no matter what else she may have done in her life) where she makes a great case for not having children since she would just screw them up, not make her a better person which many people would have you think. And a lot of that goes to my belief of how selfish being a parent can be which gets nicely reinforced here.
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