Where is Leviathan filmed? The film "Leviathan": actors and roles, reviews

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The recently released film "Leviathan", according to many critics, is one of the most important film achievements in Russia over the past few years. As you know, it was this Russian film that was recently awarded the Golden Globe Award and received many more prestigious awards, for example, the award for best screenplay, best male and female roles, editing, etc. Oddly enough, the Western to the viewer than to the domestic one, which is clearly reflected in numerous critical articles.

First storyline

According to the director himself, in his film he sought to prove that biblical stories can exist outside of time and space. In order to realize his idea, Andrey Zvyagintsev unfolds one of them in front of his audience. The action takes place today in the Russian outback. The film's title itself has many meanings, and it is connected not only with the Bible, which makes it possible to judge a multi-level storyline. The director has always been famous for his deep works, after watching which a topic for discussion always appeared. The plot of the film "Leviathan", in its deepest sense, is connected with the biblical story of Job, which describes a monster,embodying all the forces of nature that oppose man. The prototype of this hero is the main character of the film - Nikolai, brilliantly played by Alexei Serebryakov. He honestly works, loves his family, in a word, leads a quiet, calm life in a house by the Barents Sea, built by his great-grandfather. Nikolay considers himself an exemplary Christian, and therefore he is sure that God is favorable to him. However, as in the story of Job, the Almighty has his own plans for this man. A series of troubles and misfortunes falls on the head of the hero. Nicholas will have to reconsider God's message and accept it not as a punishment, but as a test, get rid of sinful pride and not make senseless attempts to unravel God's plan.

Second storyline

As mentioned above, Leviathan (film) is not a retelling of the story of Job at all, it is a multi-layered work of cinematic art. At the next semantic level, the viewer will have to solve new puzzles. Here the name Leviathan takes on a new meaning. This is no longer a natural monster that suppresses a person, it is an image of the machine of our state, which, in the process of grinding the human mass, is not able to recognize a person. Leviathan is a film whose content clearly demonstrates to the viewer how this machine works. The local government, representing the state, brutally destroys Nikolai as an individual who dared to defend his own rights to the land that originally belonged to his father and grandfather.

What was the impetus for the birth of the plot?

At one of the Cannes press conferences, Andrei Zvyagintsev said that he was prompted to choose the plot by the famous story of a Colorado resident that happened in 2004, when he destroyed several administrative buildings with a bulldozer, thereby expressing his dissatisfaction with the authorities, who refused to recognize that person's rights. The director noted that this could happen in any country, and added that only by transferring the plot to domestic soil, he realized the existence of a proto-plot - the story of Job.

Film characters

Numerous negative reviews about the film "Leviathan" are connected precisely with the fact that there is not a single positive character in the film. All characters regularly drink alcohol, constantly smoke and swear. The director himself sees in all this the “core” of the life of a simple Russian person, but many viewers took it as an insult, as an attempt to denigrate the Russians in the eyes of the rest of the “civilized” world. In light of recent events, the notion that Leviathan is a film commissioned by the West is particularly relevant. The Western world really reacted to the picture better than domestic viewers. Perhaps this is due precisely to the images of the heroes, because they only confirm the long-established stereotype, they say, if you are Russian, then you must be a gloomy, cursing drunkard.

Dark landscapes

Already from the very first frames of the film, we see Russia in exceptionally gloomy colors, fanned by hopelessness, as if by some kind of fog. The sad morning landscape of the old Murmansk town, where Leviathan was filmed,really reminiscent of Western films about Russia, which are mostly filmed in Eastern Europe. However, here everything is much more straightforward. The picture did not promise its viewer bright colors, only a gloomy city, mired in longing and hopelessness. Of course, in real life, where there are no cameras and director's intentions, everything is different. Filming took place in an almost abandoned village in the Murmansk region, in Teriberka. For this region of Russia, such places are rather exotic than commonplace. The locals themselves insist that in reality their region does not look at all as flawed as it is presented in the film. However, as you know, there are no halftones in art, it is simply unprofitable. Therefore, the area itself, and the moral character of the inhabitants of the town where Leviathan was filmed, are shown in the picture exclusively from the gloomy side. Zvyagintsev only demonstrates what disgusts: old rotting ships, broken dirt roads and a whale skeleton… There is terrible dust everywhere, gray peeled walls of buildings, and people are dressed like impoverished refugees from the Civil War in Tajikistan in the 90s. Everyone who has visited Murmansk at least once knows exactly how beautiful this northern region is, so reviews of the Leviathan film are full of remarks that the director distorts the real picture of reality. There were also those who supported Zvyagintsev's plan. According to the latter, there is nothing wrong with the fact that the overall picture of the area looks slightly exaggerated. The most important thing is to convey the idea, and it is much easier to do this when it is expressed clearly.

Is everything so bad in Teriberka?

Yes, Zvyagintsev's picture "Leviathan" caused a lot of talk and gossip. Where this film was filmed, you already know. With the release of the picture on world screens, many were simply stunned: is it really so bad in Russia? Many correspondents of foreign newspapers and TV channels went to the village where the film was being shot to see with their own eyes what was happening here. Teriberka has become a real symbol of the decline of the Russian North, which, in fact, confirms the plot of the film Leviathan. In fact, everything is not so bad here. At one time, Teriberka was considered a regional center, it was an urban-type settlement, rapidly growing in size. However, in the early 60s, all major activities moved to Severomorsk, which is why the village gradually began to decline. The village head, Tatyana Trubilina, accuses Zvyagintsev of Leviathan of exaggeration: “Where was all this horror, poverty and unemployment filmed?” According to her, only 10% of the entire population of the village are unemployed; there is a wonderful house of culture, a library equipped with computers and other necessary equipment. The chapter also recalls the merits of the Teribera folk choir. Of course, Zvyagintsev had no intention of offending the village where Leviathan was filmed and its inhabitants. Do not forget that cinema is designed to reflect reality through a magnifying glass, exaggerating some details, and the director is only trying to identify the problems of the Russian hinterland as clearly as possible.

Total devastation in the interiorsmovie

The main character of the film Nikolai lives with his family in an old, battered house. To make the plot even more dramatic, the director focuses on the fact that the hero's family does not live, but literally survives. The interior of the house where Leviathan was filmed is saturated with elements of poverty. Everything that has accumulated in the old warehouses of Mosfilm is used here in order to once again emphasize the inferiority of the lives of the characters. Literally everything points to this: bronze faucets, plastic ficuses, an ancient fake door, and worn, washed-out bedspreads. Each episode exposes the viewer to the daily life of Nikolai, the shabby walls of his father's house, empty gaps instead of windows …

Russian without vodka is nowhere

Already at the 25th minute of the tape, the topic of alcohol begins to gain momentum. Vodka here acts as the patroness of all provincial residents. Many critics argue that Leviathan is a film whose content is based on vodka as a key element in the daily life of a Russian person. This drink is drunk here in a simple way: from faceted glasses, without any snacks, like some kind of lemonade. All this, according to the director, was done with only one purpose - to demonstrate an ordinary Russian person who is in a state of constant depression and deepest depression. In Zvyagintsev's film, everyone drinks: the main character himself, his walking wife, traffic cops, the mayor, even children drink beer in a ruined church. The characters of the film are accustomed to solving all existing problems with drunkenness, which is not alien and real.people living in provincial towns where poverty and hopelessness reign.

Evil wins in the end

Unfortunately, the ending is tragic. Corrupt local judges read out the verdict to Nikolai, the plot does not leave even a shadow of hope for something better, brighter. As mentioned above, the impetus for the creation of the picture was the story of an American who challenged the arbitrariness of officials. However, if a film about this man were made in the USA, he would act as a real hero, he would appear as a fighter for justice. The film Leviathan is radically different in this regard. Russia presents the main character as flawed and insignificant. Serebryakov's character is an alcoholic and a fool whose wife is cheating, he seems to be the personification of all possible stereotypes about a Russian person.

The Church as a source of evil

The end of the film was a ten-minute sermon by the priest, who talked about the events taking place in the world, praised the Russian people and their victory over filth. In the film, the minister of the church acts as a political instructor who hides the true problems and human pain, covering all this with a veil of goodness. All this long sermon is listened to with genuine attention by those same local corrupt officials who have just taken away a house from a simple peasant and ruined his already difficult life. The director exposes to his viewer an all-consuming injustice, which is also justified by the cleric. This makes us think about the mission of the clergy in modern society. ByAt the end of the service, the viewer sees that on the site of the old house of Nikolai, a small, but solid temple, intended for the city elite, has grown. Both the mayor and local top officials are happy. As conceived by the authors, the church is presented in an even worse light than corrupt officials, being not an institution that brings faith and hope to people, but a real evil.

Criticism of the film

Long before its appearance on the screens, the film split Russia into two camps, heated disputes between which have not subsided so far. Some argue that Leviathan is the best film, praising the film, considering it a reliable reflection of the life of the people of the Putin era, while others, on the contrary, condemn the director for promoting anti-Russian sentiments. Many associate this reaction of our compatriots with the aggravation of the Ukrainian crisis and Western pressure on Russia. The public revolted especially massively after the Golden Globe Award, which, in fact, meant the approval of the Russophobic, according to some, sentiments by the West. Of course, the film of the year "Leviathan" deserves attention. It is worth watching if only to try to understand what the director wanted to say, to think about the future of our country.

Despite all the tragedy of the plot and the conflicting opinions of critics, the picture is worthy of the highest praise, because it touched everyone who saw it. Whether it is a foreign viewer or a domestic one, everyone was horrified more than once while watching, wondering: what lies ahead for us? In big cities, life flows differently, especiallyAbroad. The shocking footage of the heroes' complete despair makes one think about how much our country still has to do to protect its citizens from such a life, if such an existence can be called life at all. We have completely forgotten how ordinary village people live, we complain about our problems, which, in comparison with the frankly oppressive atmosphere of hopelessness of the film, will seem insignificant. "Leviathan" carries many meanings at the same time, there is something to think about. Zvyagintsev's idea is ambiguous, the content of the tape can be viewed from different angles and change your mind with each new viewing. The movie scenes are really amazing. It is these shots that are not forgotten, they seem to settle somewhere in the depths of the soul.