Sometimes downbeat but often a thought provoking Russian picture; concerning the central character (Elena) and her troubled family life. The issues and choices she has to both endure and subsequently execute, become the crux of the story. the immoral conclusion (incredibly) seems to be the most reasonable outcome and as blood is thicker than water, the ending deed seems as natural as it could ever possibly be. such slow burning tension comes as a welcome relief to the predictable crash, bang, wallop offered at the local multiplex. 'Elena' is actually a high quality thriller of an entirely different pace and it's a classic case of more drama, less action.
94% - Critics
73% - Audience
7.3Keywords: swimming poollifeguardelderly couplecandlestepparent stepchild relationship
Plot summary
Elena and Vladimir are an older couple, they come from different backgrounds. Vladimir is a wealthy and cold man, Elena comes from a modest milieu and is a docile wife. They have met late in life and each one has children from previous marriages. Elena's son is unemployed, unable to support his own family and he is constantly asking Elena for money. Vladimir's daughter is a careless young woman who has a distant relationship with her father. A heart attack puts Vladimir in hospital, where he realizes that his remaining time is limited. A brief but somehow tender reunion with his daughter leads him to make an important decision: she will be the only heiress of his wealth. Back home he announces it to Elena. Her hopes to financially help her son suddenly vanish. The shy and submissive housewife then comes up with a plan to give her son and grandchildren a real chance in life.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU 962.69 MB
1280*544
Russian 2.0
NR
Movie Reviews
Reviewed by
Thought provoking movie, from the Big Bear.
Reviewed by
slow is not enough
Atmospheric? Noir? No, it's just excruciatingly slow.
Some people LOVE this stuff to sit and watch the clouds pass. For the first minute, I thought I had hit the pause button by accident. Instead I just hit the mute button by accident. (Think about it). If the long empty takes were there to achieve an atmospheric feel, it achieved that in the first 5 min. Any more is just beating a dead horse. In fact, beating a dead horse would be infinitely more fascinating. Instead, we're treated to endless long takes of nothing. By the time the story moves from the setup, we're already an hour into it. And story is nothing to be proud of. It's as old as cinema. It's been seen before. Just not so slowly.
Reviewed by
contemporary bleakness
Andrey Zvyagintsev's "Elena" is a not a pretty picture of modern Russia. One can see a stark contrast between the life of affluent life that the protagonist and her husband lead and the miserable life that her son leads. The gang that beats up a homeless man adds to the dismal factor. It's no accident that Elena does what she does towards the end.
Many of the shots last a couple of minutes each, creating a sense of realism. By all accounts, most of the characters see no future. Like Zvyagintsev's previous movie "The Return", it's a focus on a grim, unforgiving world (his more recent "Leviathan" focused on the same sort of topic but also incorporated corruption in the story). The residences alone show the difference: Elena and Vladimir live in a swanky loft, while her son lives in a crumbling apartment building (one of those Khrushchev-era edifices that had design problems from the start).
I recommend the movie. Along with the main plot, it poses the question: can Russia ever see a future?