The Return (2003)

I was really looking forward to seeing this Russian film since I had read some of the comments on the Internet Movie Database which were little short of ecstatic.  For a debut feature, it was in fact very assured, telling the story of two young boys of about 15 and 13 who have not seen their father for twelve years.  When he suddenly reappears at their home, their mother allows him to take them off on a fishing trip for a couple of days, although this becomes a full week before the finale.  The father is at times cruel and distant, but one feels that he is trying in his own way to establish some rapport with the sons he has never known.  The boys react differently -- the elder doing his best to go with the flow, while the younger remains antagonistic. What I found frustrating about this movie is that I was left at the end with so many unanswered questions, but perhaps the director was getting at the enigmatic relationship between fathers and sons, or some such, but the movie could have done with some form of closure after a shocking event.

The young actors were both very good and I understand that the elder died tragically shortly after the film was completed.  The younger would have absolutely no future in American movies, since I have never seen a more sullen looking child.  A final word about the cinematography which was lush, but which at times detracted rather than added to the what was going on on the screen.