a film by Andrey Zvyagintsev
The story of two young brothers, Andrey and Vanya, who live with their mother and grandmother in a small coastal town in northern Russia. The pair have an especially close bond, compensating in their own way for a childhood spent growing up without a father. One day, running home after a fight with neighbourhood kids, the boys are shocked to discover their father has returned after a twelve year absence. The following day, with their mother's uneasy blessing, Andrey and Vanya set out on what they believe will be a fishing holiday with this enigmatic stranger.
Andrey, the elder brother, is desperate for a father figure in his life, openly seeking his father's approval at all times and accepting of his unpredictable, dominating and often dangerous tendencies. Vanya however is rebellious, seething with barely disguised rage at the man who now presumes to enter their lives and assert his authority, the younger son resists and defies his father at every opportunity.
Throughout their week spent together, the mood is ominous and the father's motives remain unclear. The mystery surrounding his history and the underlying purpose of their journey to a remote island is never explained to Andrey and Vanya. Their father has some nefarious business to conclude involving the retrieval of a buried strong box from a ruined building within the island's interior, although this is of no significance to the children. But as their suppressed emotions begin to rise to the surface, the story reaches a shocking and unexpected conclusion leaving the two brothers in a situation which, to some extent, their journey has prepared them for.
In his outstanding and beautifully captured first feature, Andrey Zvyagintsev explores the complex bonds between a father and his two sons under intense pressures and in unusual circumstances. A multi-layered tale of love and trust, estrangement and betrayal, on the uncharted and often painful journey into adulthood.
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