Heavy stuff but highly rewarding, and an illuminating look into a country still steeped in its brutal past.
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Leviathan
Overview
In a Russian coastal town, Kolya is forced to fight the corrupt mayor when he is told that his house will be demolished. He recruits a lawyer friend to help, but the man's arrival brings further misfortune for Kolya and his family.
Director and cast
- Andrey Zvyagintsev Director
- Aleksey Serebryakov as Nikolay Sergeev
- Vladimir Vdovichenkov as Dmitriy Seleznyov
- Elena Lyadova as Liliya Sergeeva
- Roman Madyanov as Vadim Shelevyat
- Anna Ukolova as Anzhela Polivanova
- Aleksey Rozin as Pasha
- Sergey Pokhodaev Cast
- Platon Kamenev Cast
- Sergei Bachursky Cast
- Valeriy Grishko Cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
Yes, this could happen anywhere, but you get the feeling it happens often in Russia. The only real hope here is that a movie this hard on the motherland could be made there.
"Leviathan" plays like downer Tolstoy, masterfully specific to these people and unforgivingly allegorical toward the country at large.
A story of political and spiritual corruption, of men and women accustomed to power, and of others fighting against it.
At times the movie suggests a Cheech and Chong comedy with cannabis replaced by vodka.
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