On February 16, 2018, the film by Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev “Loveless” will be released in American cinemas. A week ago in Los Angeles, the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nomination of this film for an Oscar in the category “Best Foreign Language Film”. The world premiere of this film took place in 2017 as part of the competition program of the 70th Cannes Film Festival, where the film was awarded the Jury Prize, the third most important award after the “Golden Palm” and the Grand Prix, awarded to films in the main competition.
The plot of the film “Loveless” centers on the difficult story of a divorce of a modern Moscow couple and the experiences of their twelve-year-old son. The topic is relevant and understandable to people in any country in the world. A typical, completely everyday story. The first films of the film introduce us to twelve-year-old Lesha (played by the talented Matvey Novikov), lazily dragging himself home from school past the roots of an uprooted tree, past a river, past a barrier tape dusted with autumn leaves. At home, his parents, who are always arguing, are waiting for him. They are getting divorced, selling their apartment and thinking only about themselves. Zhenya (actress Maryana Spivak) already has a wealthy fiancé (Andris Keish), who is much older than her. Boris (played by Alexey Rogozin) also has everything ready for a new family – his pregnant girlfriend is waiting for him. But they cannot yet decide what to do with their child. Neither the mother nor the father want to keep him with them. Alyosha hears his parents talking about how no one needs him. He is alone, in a dark room, bursting into tears and screaming silently. This scene cannot leave anyone indifferent. Dislike. Dislike only gives birth to dislike.
Alyosha decides to leave home forever. The next morning he goes to school and does not return home. And for almost two days, none of his relatives noticed his disappearance, until the school called that the boy was not in class. The image of an unhappy mother whose son has disappeared does not evoke compassion.
Zhenya, who did not receive maternal love in childhood, married “on impulse”, is heartless towards her son and husband. She throws all her hatred at Alyosha, whom she never loved. And Boris is a match for her. He takes the news of his son’s disappearance completely calmly and says that nothing terrible could have happened. Despite their egoism and vanity, these two are surrounded by normal people who can truly love and help each other. This is a squad of volunteers who do everything to save the boy.
The director’s work and incredible attention to detail are admirable, because it is the details that create the atmosphere of the film and determine its acceptance (or rejection) by the viewer. Andrey Zvyagintsev’s interesting move is also that the decision about what happened to Alyosha is entirely left to the viewer’s judgment. We only know that two years later, both heartless parents, who gave each other and their child “no love”, continue to live their lives as if nothing had changed…
We are sure that each of us will have his own vision of this film. For our part, we definitely recommend watching “Loveless”.
