OVP: Leviathan (2014)

Film: Leviathan (2014)
Stars: Aleksei Serebryakov, Roman Madyanov, Vlaidmir Vdovichenkov, Elena Lyadova, Sergey Pokhodaev
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Foreign Language Film-Russia)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

I remember after seeing Leviathan that I was confused by its weird similarities to another film from last year, Winter Sleep.  Both films in major ways discuss the way that money and power (and that increasingly tantalizing item in foreign film that hasn't quite seen its way into American conversations: comfort) can create situations that are absolutely appalling for those who are subjected to the whims of the 1%.  Class and caste systems are particularly damning when taken from an international perspective and looking into Russia this appears to be no different.  Leviathan, a film essentially about the power of a Mayor to destroy the life of another citizen is compelling not only on the surface, but also because it makes us wonder about the Putin regime, particularly when put in light of his invasion of the Ukraine.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film's chief focus is on Kolya, a boorish alcoholic who lives in a house that is near a river and is a great location, but his family has owned the home for generations, and with little other money to show for it, it's sturdy but nothing special.  Kolya (Serebryakov), however, is at odds with the mayor Vadim (Madyanov), who wants the land for himself to create a home.  Kolya recruits his lawyer friend Dmitri (Vdovichenkov) who helps him initially by blackmailing the mayor, but eventually gets in over his head when he has an affair with Kolya's wife, and is nearly killed by the mayor's thugs.  The film ends with Dmitri leaving town, Kolya's wife committing suicide because she cannot be happy in her current existence, and Kolya being arrested after being falsely accused as his wife's killer, while his home is demolished to make way for a new church.

The film has a lot to say, and doesn't quite have the length that Winter Sleep did (though it clocks in at a not unlong 140 minutes).  The movie at once wants to be a universal parable, as well as one that particularly indicts Russia.  The film was sharply questioned by the Russian Minister of Culture, and though the film received public funds to be made, it's likely that the reaction to it will ensure that a film of this nature will never be made under Putin's government again.  As a result, it's something to really look into, and it is quite frankly at its best when it is indicting the Russian government, even though it tries to be universal enough to at least guarantee a release and not just an arrest of the director.  The film shows the way that power, unchecked, can create a tyranny.  The mayor in this small town is a dictator amongst men, frequently abusing power and knowing that he cannot be touched.  Even when he is successfully blackmailed, it only lasts for a short period of time, and one wonders if the film's producers were instead trying to paint this as the modern equivalent of dictatorships, particularly in Russia, where hope is only planted when the leader deems it worthy.  The way that the system completely is owned by the state is frightening and petrifying, and it's told artistically enough that it doesn't veer into lecture, but just into a nighmarish look at totalitarian government.

The film is slightly less successful when it isn't pumping this metaphor, instead trying to also indict the Orthodox Church.  Perhaps because the Church doesn't have a major player in the drama we don't see it as the villain that the mayor is, but the Job parable for Kolya doesn't quite work, particularly since it takes a long time for us to feel much sympathy for Kolya, and even then it's more in the abstract.  He's getting this punishment more by chance, not because of his alcoholism and the way he treats his wife, tough for a long time you kind of think that it's a personal vendetta against him.  The film is better when it selects specific people to indict like the friends who end up with Kolya's son, trying to gain financial edge from the State in the form of checks.  The Church metaphor gets stretched too often and perhaps only really works in the abstract (like the rotting title Leviathan on the beach, a whale that has long since been defeated, much like Kolya at the beginning of the film).

Since the film splits its time between condemning the State and the Church, but only really gets away with one successfully (and because the character of Dmitri isn't drawn in a way that feels needed in the movie-his character lifts out pretty easily), the movie never hits the metaphorical high-notes of Winter Sleep (one of the best films about power this side of Raise the Red Lantern).  However, it's still damn good with strong cinematography and a seedy look at the world of local Russian government, and I'm glad I found the time to see it.