‘Leviathan’ director discusses Russian cinema
Print Edition
RUSSIAN director Andrey Zvyagintsev is not afraid to use the language of cinema to discuss serious social issues, especially those relevant to today’s Russia.
His latest internationally acclaimed film, “Leviathan,” won the award for best screenplay at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in 2015 as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.
An American story translated into a Russian setting, “Leviathan” was inspired by Marvin Heemeyer, the Colorado man who demolished a dozen buildings (including a town hall) with a bulldozer over a local zoning dispute before killing himself with a handgun.
“I had a desire to create something upon hearing the story, and it fits a question I’ve been thinking about for a long time,” Zvyagintsev said during a recent group interview in Shanghai, where the director is president of the Golden Goblet Award jury during the 18th Shanghai International Film Festival, which concludes on Sunday.
“Leviathan” will also be screened during the event.
The story, set in the fictional town of Pribrezhny, centers on a conflict between a homeowner named Koyla and the corrupt mayor who wants to demolish his home. Focusing on the darker side of human nature, the film puts a spotlight on the moral issues facing contemporary Russian society.
In Zvyagintsev’s view, filmmakers should search for universal qualities in stories of interpersonal conflict.
In the director’s 2011 film “Elena,” for example, Zvyagintsev uses the story of a woman and her family to reflect problems faced by Russians.
“The social idea in today’s Russia is that money is the first priority, and under such circumstances humanity definitely changes,” he says.
In Russia, filmmakers can apply for government funding through the Ministry of Culture. In the case of “Leviathan,” the government covered about 35 percent of the film’s budget. Nevertheless, Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky is said to have criticized the film for not portraying “real Russians” and having no positive characters.
“It’s one thing to receive government funding, another thing for the minster of culture’s comments — but I have the right to express myself with my film and he has the right to comment,” Zvyagintsev explains.
For filmmakers in Russia today though, such support is becoming increasingly difficult to come by — in part because of the country’s strained economic situation as well as stricter content standards.
“I’m not a politician. My next film could be about anything and I’ll start shooting in July and August,” he says. “But whether it can receive government funding is not so much my concern as my producer’s.”
With regard to Shanghai’s ongoing film festival, an event designed in part to showcase emerging talent, Zvyagintsev explains that directors should not come to film festivals with a strong goal of winning prizes.
“One purpose of any film festival is to support original movies, so at film festivals you see less commercial blockbusters and more independent works. This is very important to directors and can help them on their path as a filmmaker,” he says.
When asked if art-house films are under pressure at the Russian box office, Zvyagintsev says that such movies are not made with financial returns first in mind.
“In Russia everyone knows art films don’t make money. Our films are not commercial blockbusters like ‘Transformers,’ where films are products and audiences are aware of how the story develops,” he explains. “Normally a film takes me three to four years (to make), and I can’t make commercial films just for the box office.”
Zvyagintsev finished his first feature film, “The Return,” at the age of 39. The film went on to take a Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival in 2004.
“A young person don’t have enough life experience, hasn’t made that many mistakes and lost things, and don’t understand the real meaning of forgiveness ... I think life experience is important for a director, it’s not something you learn from textbooks,” he says.
Similarly, Zvyagintsev encouraged young filmmakers to accumulate experience and not rush to make films.
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