Leviathan (2014)

You won't be disappointed!

People are voting emotionally.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

Brilliant film that discretely depicts the hypocrisy and nonsense of the church and faith, corruption and power inequality. The ones in power always win in the courts. This film is one of the few films I've watched lately that made me feel amazed by it's end.

When you want to describe Russians, as the westerners see them, then you add Vodka in the movie (whole the time), show it as a rough and wild open space with poverty on every step and nowadays many of the self-proclaimed artist use a church as a starting point for spitting. And, not to forget Pussy Riot and Putin, they should be put somewhere too. That is the point of this movie, to make a sad story about small man fighting politics and money, and church, betrayed from everyone. And you add some symbolism to look more artistic, but symbolism is always bad when it is direct (Putin on the poster in every office and in the shooting practice party...) Today, propaganda is implemented in every movie, and this one is full of it. It should receive Nobel price for it, but you don't need to watch this garbage when there are much better movies.

Leviathan is a retelling of the book of Job from the Bible, where a small and simple man is fiercely tested by his God. The story brings us to a small fishing village in Russia, where Kolya , a simple and hardworking man lives with his son Roma and his new wife Lilya. It's clear from the beginning that this is not a harmonious family as Roma is rebelling against his father and stepmother Lilya especially and not willing to accept her. The local town , symbolized by a terribly corrupt mayor wants to evict Kolya and his family from their house in order to demolish it. Kolya hires his best friend Dima , a lawyer from Moscow to fight the eviction in court. The Leviathan from the title points to the immense corruption that pervades Russian society. In that way this is some kind of wonder that the Russian Ministry of Culture have approved this film. The rights of the small man don't mean anything at all, as the mayor points out in some drunken vodka-infused rant : they're all insects, put on the earth to be trampled. He feels above the law, when he shows up completely drunk , accompanied by some bodyguards to personally threaten Kolya and his family.By the way, the main characters all seem to self-medicate heavily with bottle upon bottle of vodka , in order to escape the reality of what is happening to them.The movie is about the interpersonal relationships between the main characters , father and son, husband and wife, Kolya and Dima, .. all playing out against the backdrop of utter and unstoppable corruption. So pervasive and evil that it almost becomes farcical. This movie is extremely powerful, there are some images in there that will be burnt into your retina's for years to come. Some landscapes are especially haunting. I truly loved it, and wasn't expecting the gut punch it gave me at times. Highly Recommended.

I sometimes think people add an extra 5 points on this site when they see something with subtitles.I give this sleeping, depressing movie a 3, just for the one scene where I get to see how country bumpkin Russians have a fun camp out with 'drinkin n shootn'. They have more in common with the Americans than they would admit.To then have this 'idealic' scene be lost to a strange and bizarre incident that they don't fully explain until near the end of the movie, was just ridiculous and jarring. You are forced to do headcounts in every scene to see who got murdered. Why did the drunk with the AK let off a burst? Was he shooting at the adulterers? What the hell!Another point was the complete lack of explanation how the visiting brother could get away with having sex with his brother's wife constantly without getting caught, yet he's supposed to be there visiting and staying with them.The big fat drunkard mayor, who reminded me of Rob Ford, who suddenly turns into the maniacal dark mob demon, is also jarring and unbelievable.The drinking in this movie is so beyond belief. I understand Russians like their vodka, but are we expected to believe working class farmers and fish packers can afford to drink 2 bottles each a day? How are they not dead at 30? The next thing they do very weirdly in this movie is give you the rare opportunity to observe the entire opening readings, twice, of Russian court proceedings. in... a.... monotonous.... and rapid.... female Russian voice.There is no acting going on in this movie, as apparently the entire cast was encouraged to drink heavily, so we have drunken Russian bumpkins, a snob lawyer from Moscow, and a Rob Ford corrupt mayor look alike, all babbling drunken slosh at each other and spitting.The only acting done was by the teenage boy, as I guess they kept him out of the vodka, and even then his performance at times stretched into hysterical screeching.