jeeap The main character gives you a wrong impression from the get-go. You start believing he is a missing part for his family happiness. Old style, mostly brutal, treatment towards his sons somehow make you think it will help them in a long run. But it won't. As we find out later, the father is simply trying to mask his weaknesses with his false toughness. The irony is that his death serves as a turning point for his boys, not his life. They need him to be dead to learn a lesson.

sahil-bhardwaj07 Andrey Zvyagintsev's movie "The Return" is a modern Russian masterpiece in itself because most of the movies made in Soviet Russia used to have a political message incorporated within. But, this post-communism movie tries to sway from such a narrative by telling a story of a father and his two sons (all independent characters) in a fairly apolitical fashion. It can also be validly argued that this movie gets away from Russian film-making traditions and tends to take inspiration from western road movies, in which characters go on a journey to eventually come across a big revelation or find their true demons. This movie was awarded with the Golden Lion Award at Venice Film Festival, and it does deserve all the praise that it got. "The Return" has just a perfect blend of horror, suspense and drama; which all comes wrapped in an art-house kind of film-making package. Therefore, this movie cannot be put into a specific genre, but the quandary does not end there. This movie also leaves a lot of questions unanswered; such as, the contents of the box found on the island by the father, or the absence of the father's image in the picture that Andrei holds up during the final sequence etc. Often times in movies, the directors choose to keep bits of information from the viewers in order to keep the overall message of the movie open ended. Thus, every viewer is entitled to interpret the movie in whichever way he/she wants. But, it would not be wrong to say here that keeping big secrets from the audience in this movie maybe works against it. Spoon-feeding each and every plot detail to the audience is clearly bad, but keeping half of the relevant plot elements in the dark is equally bad, especially when it does not serve any valid purpose.This movie also derives a lot of cinematic elements from Russian film- making pioneer Andrei Tarkovsky. The incorporation of all the natural elements, i.e. water, fire, air and earth in the mise-en-scene play an important role throughout the film. Tarkovsky was also known to use such methods in his movies such as "Stalker". The island that the father takes the kids to could also be compared to the zone from the movie "Stalker". Thus, in a way the father could be compared to the stalker, and his sons could be compared to the writer and the professor from Tarkovsky's film. Furthermore, the slow pan of the camera in the underwater sequence from the very beginning of the movie can also be compared to the dreaming sequence of "Stalker," where the camera similarly pans over various abandoned objects sunk in the water in the zone. Some analysts have also argued that perhaps the father was dead all along. Thus, making the entire movie a construction of the kids' imagination and memories. This kind of narrative has also been explored by Tarkovsky in his acclaimed movie "The Mirror". Thus, another parallel could be drawn here as to where Zvyagintsev found his inspiration while making "The Return".The biblical aspects of the movie can also not be ignored. The father can be compared to Jesus Christ, because there is a lot of Christian imagery portrayed through him. Most notable example would be Andrea Mantegna's painting, The Lamentation Over the Dead Christ; which is recreated in the film by showing the father sleeping on the bed. Also, the story takes place in 7 days, which is exactly the number of days, according to the Bible, that god took to create the earth. In a way, the father resurrected from his 12 year absence from his sons' lives and taught them valuable life lessons, only to die at the end of the 7th day.One might think that incorporating all the aforementioned elements in one film might be disastrous. But, Zvyagintsev able artistry was effective in creating a beautiful final picture, without creating too much chaos, even though a few dots were left unconnected.

filza-athira "You know… your bowl sank." "Sank?" "A wave carried it away."A couple of years back, my father brought back home the DVD and told me to watch this film. However, being a young, impatient viewer back then, I could not take the color filter used, the blue hue seemed rather unnatural to me. However, as I grew up, I learned to suspense my disbelief. Ultimately, I had the chance to 'return' to this film as it was one of the films assigned for my Russian Film class; I am glad it was (and yes, I finally learned how to appreciate the blue hue!). Initially, before being exposed to various kinds of Russian films, I associated a Russian film as a medium for directors and screenwriters to deliver some sort of a political message, a reflection of the government and its nation. However 'The Return' is beyond that.For me, 'The Return' portrays the fundamental of human's needs; the need to belong, the need to conform, the need to be understood, the need for protection, the need for affection and the need to search oneself. As an audience, I may not be able to fully identify myself with any of the character based on the storyline, but I know that I've been in similar psychological events. I've been in Andrei's shoes, the follower who tries to please his father by doing all the chores being asked, thirsty for his affection. I've been in Ivan's shoes too, the bitter younger son who rebels, just to prove his resentment towards his father's return after the 12-years absence. Most likely in different situations, but perhaps, we've all been there.Nonetheless, I applaud this film not for the characters' personal identification but the mysteries encompassing the film. The film does not verbally reveal the reason of father's absence, the mother's and grandmother's voiced opinion on father's return, the motif of father's hostility, the island that father brings the boys to; heck, we do not even know father's name! The film does not tell, instead takes the audience on a journey of two growing boys understanding the meaning of life and loss, through character's expression, nature's interaction, music scores, and astounding cinematography. Despite the unknown enigmas, the film still succeeds as a whole. I would recommend 'The Return' to anyone who is willing to experience something atypical in a film; it takes more of a heart's understanding than a brain's reasoning.

cline-368 The Return is a film that is full drama and dynamic emotion. It has many themes as well as artistic filming technique to exemplify the deeper meaning of the film. It starts out with two brothers, Andrei and his younger brother Ivan. Andrei seems to be wanting to fit in, and is easily embarrassed by his younger brother Ivan. However, they become closer again after returning home one day to find that their father had returned home after being mysteriously gone for 12 years. The father is brooding and harsh with the boys showing himself as powerful. Ivan has more trouble dealing with this new discipline than Andrei does creating conflict between the father and son. There is a lot of slow, long takes in the film to display the emotion and enhances the drama of the events. This all leads up to the climatic event of Ivan running away from the father to climb a tower. The father runs after him to save him from doing something drastic. Displaying that even though the father is harsh and isn't particularly fatherly, he still has a fatherly instinct to save his son. The movie has a lot of themes that play out through the film including love, tragedy, drama, and survival. The showing of the love of brothers, and how deep love runs even if it isn't apparent at the surface. The tragedy of not having a father for the first part of your life, and the tragedy of death. The dramatic events throughout the film. And the display of strength to survive even after tragedy. It is an excellent film