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LEVIATHAN Send This Review to a Friend
Corruption in Russia is vividly examined in “Leviathan,” directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev from a screenplay that he wrote with Oleg Negin. The scene is specifically a small town in Russia’s Arctic region, but the intent of this Russian film to infer a broader corruption is illustrated by the picture of Putin on the wall of the rotten-to-the-core local mayor. It used to be Stalin’s portraits gracing the walls. Time marches on.
The mayor in question, Vadim (Roman Madianov), is using his wiles to seize a property he wants for a development scheme. Its owner, a mechanic named Koyla (Aleksey Serebryakov), won’t submit quietly. He is a father of a son from a marriage before his present marriage to Lilya (Elena Liadova). Kolya drinks a lot, but that doesn’t prevent him from being dedicated to holding onto his home and land in the face of the corrupt mayor’s plan.
Kolya concocts a threat of his own, using evidence he has obtained to blackmail the mayor with the warning that he can expose the mayor’s illegal activities. The mayor, not one to succumb quietly either, is not a person to mess with, especially when he is in the wrong.
As an ally Kolya has a hot-shot lawyer, an old friend, who has come from Moscow to assist. But the two are no match for the conniving, ruthless mayor. Kolya’s wife Lilya is in danger.
The cinematography of Mikhail Krichman is a major contribution, providing a sense of place with all of the bleakness of the area. It adds to the eerie feeling of the battle for survival being waged. Can Kolya possibly win? A Sony Pictures Classics release. Reviewed December 25, 2014.
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