Leviathan

Audience Reviews

View More

Anakin S Jan 26, 2019 If you believe that evil rules everyone and everything on earth then this movie is for you. As 'dark' and depressing a movie as I have seen. This movie also shows that even foreign films have nothing but loathing and animosity towards Christianity. The movie is built around a corrupt mayor in cahoots with a pious, pompous catholic priest, who is anything but a Christian leader, who tries to justify the evil acts of the mayor with false scripture and interpretations in order to get a church built. Everyone is a drunk, immoral, selfish, self-centered, self-serving, or some other manner of deviant human being. Even the film title ï¿ 1/2~Leviathanï¿ 1/2(TM) and front cover are false misrepresentations. There are only two very short shots of the whale's skeleton and it has nothing to do with the movie. This is the outcome of communist/socialist/progressive governments/societies. If you want to feel bad about everything and everyone watch this movie. See more

Albus S Apr 27, 2018 A sensitive portrait of one man's profound, frustratingly recalcitrant sadness. Delicately acted. Exquisite scenery.

Draco W Apr 8, 2018 Andrey Zvyagintsev's Leviathan encapsulates the melancholy of Russia in the evocatively beautiful and lugubrious style which marks its most profound works. Synchronously paralleling the Story of Job and the corruption of Putin's Russia, the 72nd Golden Globes's Best Foreign Film achieves satirization without detracting from its artistry, drollery without degrading its sense of authenticity, and not insignificant predictability, for those aware of Job's trials or the Aristotelean definition of tragedy, without failing to commandeer the viewers's attention for but a moment. The conclusion is so poignant as to assail your emotional capacity with the lethality of a Siberian pit viper, injecting you with pure pensiveness regarding the injustice of this world, but more than anything, how this cosmic indifference can be so beautiful. Zvyagintsev has made his evocation of depression more desirable than the most intense rapture of any other director; it's as if he's performing Tchaikovsky on the strings of your heart. If you are seeking a allegorical drama with the depth of feeling that is so sorely lacking from the world of film, oversaturated with saccharine and formulaic features, Leviathan beckons, inviting you to purge the banality of your day, week, or year with cleansing sorrow. See more

Han W Mar 29, 2018 A small, simple film of domestic crisis on the surface, but deep down a study of power struggle, corruption, betrayal and the abuse of authority, Leviathan occasionally feels like it's saying something profound and universal, and at other times it feels like it doesn't know what it's saying at all. Anybody who has the image of Russians as violent, drunken yobs will not be convinced otherwise by their portrayal here. If you played a drinking game where you drank every time a character on screen drank, the 2-hour, 24-minute runtime would fly by, and you'd likely miss out on the next few days. I liked it most when it was highlighting the plight of those living rural lives, being leant on by fat cats who think that their suit and title is justification for their horrible deeds. It has a few pokes at the arrogant superiority instilled by religion also. But for me the film suffered badly from some bizarre editorial decisions. Some scenes are cut too short, others run too long, and often it either kills an emotion or doesn't allow it to happen. When a character drives to the shore to investigate a possible suicide, the entire drive from the beach to the body is shown, but the shot where the character mourns the body is given only a few seconds. We're shown what we don't need to see and deprived of what would be worth seeing. Much of the conversations which take place are drawn out drunken ramblings, and scenes of driving take up considerable time, a la Manos: The Hands Of Fate. I appreciate its bravery in tackling certain issues, but I found the film too drawn out and too dull to properly enjoy. See more

Hagrid R Dec 28, 2017 For me a slightly better movie than The Return so this is high praise indeed. I am slightly surprised this was made as it lays bare the collusion between the state and the church. But l guess the government thinks no one much will watch this and in any case the realism of the film maker portrays the relationship sympathetically. And the central character assumes a sort of universal, Everyman quality in his struggle as the small man up against forces he can never overcome. See more

Ron W Nov 23, 2017 Winner of the best foreign film at the Golden Globes and a nominee in the same category at the Oscars, Andrey Zvyagintse borrows the metaphor of the titular monster in the Book Job to apparently illustrate a corrupt Vladimir Putin's modern Russia and her spirits-sodden residents living in despair. See more

Read all reviews

Leviathan

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING