The Return

           The film The Return, directed by Andrei Zvyagintsev, was made in 2003. After viewing The Return, I realized that much of the film was influenced by the famous Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky. This can be seen from the beginning of the film with the names of two of the main characters. The two brothers are named Ivan and Andrey. When I heard their names, I thought that Zvyagintsev may be paying homage to Tarkovsky by naming one of the characters after Tarkovsky and the younger brother after the main character of Tarkovsky’s first film, Ivan’s Childhood. Of course, Zvyagintsev could have named Andrey after himself, but I believe that the act of naming the elder brother Andrei is not out of vanity. There is so much influence from Tarkovsky that it makes sense for Andrei to be named after him.

            Zvyagintsev is clearly influenced by Tarkovsky when it comes to adding the elements to his films. In Tarkovsky films such as Ivan’s Childhood and The Mirror, there are several scenes that include water. In The Mirror, containers of liquid move around, and in some scenes water drips from the ceiling. Likewise, in Ivan’s Childhood, there are scenes with rain, including one of Ivan’s dreams. In The Return, Ivan is left on a bridge and there is a storm. This occurs on Wednesday in the film. When Andrey and his father climb the tower on Friday, there is a storm as well. The characters of the film have to sail to the island that they are traveling to, so there is plenty of water in those scenes too. I think that the storm and the rain could foreshadow the father’s death in this film and the conflict between the sons and the father. The rain creates a dreary atmosphere and feels foreboding at times. In The Mirror, the wind is present in some scenes. On Tuesday in The Return, the camera focuses in on some reeds after the car leaves the shot. The reeds blow in the wind.

            There are three other instances in the film that I though demonstrated the influence Tarkovsky had over Zvyagintsev. On Tuesday during the trip, the father watches a woman through the mirror on his car. Though it was only a short segment of the film, I thought this could be Zvyagintsev once again showing his respect for Tarkovsky by using mirrors as Tarkovsky does in The Mirror. I think this is the best explanation for this because it does not seem to have any significance to the plot. Later on in the trip on Friday, Ivan sees a dead bird on the ground. This reminded me of the bird that is in The Mirror. The scene of Ivan running through the forest on the island on Friday reminded me of a scene from Ivan’s Childhood when Masha is in the forest with Kholin.

            I found The Return to be one of the best, if not the best, films we have watched in Russian Cinema. My favorite thus far is a toss-up between The Return and The Mirror. The atmosphere that Zvyagintsev created was one of the major strengths of the film. The Return was tense due to the relationship between the brothers, and their relationship with their father. At times it was bleak and dreary, and I felt this helped deliver the plot to the viewer tremendously.