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5-stars BUT I COULD TAKE A STAR FOR DRAG BUT THEN YOU'LL FORGIVE THE DRAG IN THE END BECAUSE YOU WILL BE BEWILDERED. THE DIRECTOR HAS HAD HIS WAY WITH YOU (LIKE MASTER LITERARIST TONI MORRISON); YOU WILL SIT THERE FEELING LIKE SOMEBODY FORGOT TO TELL YOU SOMETHING but it is one of those directors who are leaving it up to you what to think. Well...that's works sometime; it's a risky ploy...but
A wonderful filmshowung the contrast of society in modern Russia.Played with depth and interest. A very provocative film.
Critic Reviews powered by Metacritic ™
Los Angeles Times
The script, by Oleg Negin and Zvyagintsev, uses spare dialogue to quietly devastating effect. Performances are superb across the board, framed in elegant widescreen compositions that simmer with violence. Full Review
Andrew O'Hehir
Salon.com
A breakthrough movie after its own fashion, a mysterious existential thriller that's brilliantly acted and masterfully directed, without a second of wasted screen time. Full Review
Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic
It's a sort of slow-boil Russian noir, if that genre exists, and if it doesn't, it does now. It's also a statement on class discrepancy in post-Soviet Russia. Arrogance, betrayal, crime and violence are all part of the story, directed and co-written by Andrei Zvyagintsev. Full Review
Chuck Bowen
Slant Magazine
Elena is a film deeply concerned with class resentment, but the filmmakers' attitude toward their titular character is disconcerting and even shocking. Full Review
Ella Taylor
NPR
Beneath the noirish topicality of Elena, which won a special jury prize at Cannes last year, lies a bone-deep existential unease and spiritual alienation, a preoccupation with sin that is at once quintessentially Russian and wholly archaic. Full Review
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