Loveless

Rating: 4 out of 5 rating (excellent)

Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev

Cast: Maryana Spivak, Aleksey Rozin, Matvey Novikov

Nestled so tightly next to Hollywood, the Anglophone world has an aversion towards foreign language films. A genre deemed in the U.K. as excessively intellectual and incredibly boring, attracting older middle class viewers looking for a visual sudoku puzzle. This sadly British point of view was best captured in sitcom Father Ted’s passion of St. Tibulus scene below:

My fellow audience offered little optimism for Loveless. The only company at the screening was an older woman whose reading of an Alan Bennett novel was interrupted by my arrival. Her inconvenience was palpable as she glared at me like a stern headmistress. Any apprehension that I had about Loveless was unfounded. Cinema at its best, pushes you as the viewers. The best films question your perception of the world beyond the credits, and Loveless does just that. Loveless’ director Andrey Zvyagintsev speaks with a Russian voice, but the story he has spun alongside co-writer Oleg Negin extends beyond Russia.

I departed Loveless with an inkling that a deeper meaning lay beneath the plot, obscured enough to shirk censorship but visible for those who were really looking. Over a week has passed since I saw Loveless, and while I understand the immediate plot, the enigmatic meaning behind the tale still evades me. My interpretation of Loveless is that beyond the triumphant image of resurgent Russia under Putin, a rot has spread over the country.  Through the young boy Alyosha (Matvey Novikov) we see that his life is loveless. Neither of Alyosha’s parents love each other, or their son. Both parents, Zhenya (Maryana Spivak) and Boris (Aleksey Rozin) maintain the outward charade of marriage while conducting affairs with a different partner. Alyosha is treated by his parents as an inconvenience, a reminder of their failed marriage blocking their better lives with new partners. Once Aloysha runs away from home, his absence spreads into an absence within Russia itself. In contrast to the earlier scenes of Aloysha’s parents making house with their lovers, the parent’s search for Aloysha is filled with desolate segments of volunteers rifling through abandoned Soviet buildings. There are other signs, both direct and indirect, that things are wrong in Russia. In Zhenya’s world everyone is obsessed with social media, herself included, while in Boris’ life, white collar bosses act like feudal lords, dictating their employee’s lifestyles. News reports unfolding in the background bookend the story, with the first questioning whether 2012 will be the end of world and the last reporting Russia’s war with Ukraine. The two reports subtly link, in my opinion, into a statement that Russians are oblivious to what their country has become.

Besides Loveless’ possible statement about Russia today, the film looks at our shared obsession between the facade we project and the grim reality. Social media pervades Loveless as an unhealthy obsession blinding Zhenya and others, especially in a restaurant scene which is my favourite moment of the film. Throughout Loveless Zhenya and Boris are constantly trying to maintain an image of themselves, be it the happy life Zhenya presents on Facebook or Boris not revealing to his work that he is divorcing. In a way, its this obsession with image throughout Loveless which is distracting people from what is occurring in Russia.

Loveless’ visual style and acting are excellent but what has to be noted is Maryana Spivak’s performance as Zhenya. Spivak transforms Zhenya into the most detestable mother since Tony Soprano’s mother Livia. Spivak’s performance is so strong that it creates Loveless’ only weakness, that Zhenya becomes unsympathetic and attempts to flesh out her character make her seem even crueller.

By Saul Shimmin

For the trailer see below: