tstromsn Everything than can go wrong in a human's life happens in this movie. To the point it starts to feel a bit stupid. Also some scenes drags out too much to the point you ask if it was necessary to have them there. Also some very weird character choices that makes you wonder. But it had very good acting and interesting story and characters. So I would recommend watching it.

krocheav Another overrated 'Award' winner. Seems the bleaker they are the higher the likelihood of being hailed!. Plankton rules, a long term IMDb reviewer sums it up pretty well (along with others, see approx 3 - 5 down on page two). I can see this being a good 50min TV drama - the story is potent enough but the treatment is dull, and moves along in two speeds: dead slow and stop.Imagery is the strongest feature - striking cinematography by Mikhail Krichman, capturing some dramatically haunting locations on the Russian coast - these are set to a moody selection of music written by Philip Glass. Then enter the characters of the piece, eternally drunk - to the point of rendering themselves hopeless, endlessly swearing or attempting to cheat each other and so on. Expecting an audience to spend this much time with these folk is a very big ask. Here I have to agree with the Russian Minister of Culture - who put money into this production - then somewhat understandably disowned the film. It rightly tells the story of shocking endemic corruption by persons in high places (all administered by their paid thugs) and the terrible effects this imposes on the Russian every-man - but, in the process it gradually looses all impact by taking way too long to deliver its message. We have seen how well Russian film makers can execute an exemplary product - just a year before (2013) they gave us the superb "Gagarin" (coming in 30min under the run-time of Leviathan). Leviathan's director and writer might have done well to take a leaf from this fine film and trimmed much of the heavy-handed, turgid approach given to their subject. It's not entirely made clear if the Orthodox church is being accused of being highly complicit in this corruption or is perhaps simply benefiting thorough the hypocrisy of officials who are attempting to 'buy their way to heaven'. The final sermon, delivered in full, in the presence of these hypocritical civil servants, perfectly puts the blame squarely on their greedy heads. Then again, it seems more likely this is the filmmakers own political attempts at putting the church down. Ultimately this movie is a huge let down. Some will, some won't, I certainly didn't....

The_late_Buddy_Ryan "Leviathan" is a visually stunning and powerful film—maybe "overpowering" would be a better word, since w/d Andrei Zvyagintsev tends to make his political points with (spoiler alert?) all the subtlety of a backhoe bucket… The standoff between hard-drinking, two-fisted Kolya and Vadim—the local satrap who covets Kolya's little piece of land for a project of his own (we don't find out what it is till the final scene)—is involving and suspenseful. The tensions in Kolya's household—especially the disruptions caused by the handsome guest from Moscow—make for a fine, simmering subplot, but after these story lines collide (an event we have to imagine for ourselves, since we don't actually see it on screen), it's just one damn thing after another till the film's bleak conclusion. I can't blame AZ for giving us such a pummeling to drive his point home, given the current state of affairs in Putin's Russia—and it seems to be working for him, since few other Russian directors get much traction in the West—but I didn't really appreciate what an amazing film this is till I'd had a chance to walk it off for a while… (One critic predicts you'll "stumble out of the theater," which seems about right.) You may have heard "Leviathan" described as a remake of the Book of Job; it is, with the proviso that it's the Leviathan (Job 41) that's calling the shots now, not Yahweh. Maybe it's not surprising that the satirical jabs at the Church seem like they're right out of an old Soviet propaganda film—I particularly liked the scene where the parish priest tosses a loaf of bread to a couple of snuffling porkers in a pen, then tries to feed Kolya a very slanted synopsis of the biblical tale. (Job's life starts to turn around, says Father Nikolai, when he decides to stop complaining…)PS—Just read (03/21/16) in the NY Times that "Leviathan"'s spawned a minor tourist industry in the town where it was filmed. Visitors come to see the Northern Lights, take classes in something called "snowkiting" and see for themselves if life there is really as horrible as it seems to be in the film

eddie_baggins While it moves about as slow as the leviathan at the heart of its title reference, Andrey Zvyagintsev's biblically inspired family drama is worth sticking it out for and while it doesn't have the same impact as his highly thought of 2003 film The Return, Leviathan is a unique and troublesome picture that offers a unique look at Russian life and politics.Loosely based around the Bible story of Job and his many trials, Leviathan is anything but an easy watch and in true Russian fashion, don't go into this experience expecting happy or colourful endings as the path to this tale is fraught with danger, lies and coldly played tactics. Zvyagintsev is a master of mood and he embeds this stunningly well shot and hauntingly scored (Philip Glass provides the films sparsely used tunes) film with an ever ominous cloud of dread and while the film seems set on a certain direction within the first hour, things quickly turn in another way entirely when a fateful camping trip takes place between our films mains players.What takes place between our traveling business/family man Kolya or Nikolay, his oppressed wife Lilya, their lawyer and friend Dmitriy and corrupt local mayor Mer is much better discovered as one watches proceedings take place and there are frequent moments where you feel someone is one up on another only for the narrative to twist conventions and while it remains slightly frustrating that certain questions remain largely under lock and key come the final scenes, Leviathan's web covers a broad enough spectrum that has commentary on everything from the church system in Russia through to Vladimir Putin's ever present figure being both a literal and figurative presence over the country.Understandably recognised at film festivals the world over and awards ceremonies in equal measure (this really is the type of product Cannes and the Academy lap up) Leviathan doesn't break any new ground or truly justify its nearly snail paced plotting but despite there not being much to actually love about this picture, this is a bleak drama filled with deeply unnerving moments which will make it a film you're likely to ponder upon days after the final reels have played out.3 ½ washed up whale carcasses out of 5