Elena

2011 Drama

A woman turns to devious means to support her family in this drama from Russian filmmaker Andrei Zvyagintsev. Middle-aged Elena (Nadezhda Markina) first met her husband Vladimir (Andrey Smirnov) when she took a job looking after him following a serious illness. The two bonded and fell in love, but wealthy Vladimir is significantly older than working-class Elena, and their relationship is still centered upon her caring for his needs. Elena has an adult son from a previous marriage, Sergei (Alexey Rozin); he's a hard-drinking slacker who can't hold a job, and Vladimir doesn't care for him, but even though Elena doesn't approve of his lifestyle she feels obligated to help support him and his young son. Vladimir has a daughter, Katerina (Elena Lyadova), who hasn't spoken with him in years, and when he has a heart attack, Elena reaches out to her in hopes they can reconcile before his health fails him. Vladimir and Katerina resolve their differences, but there's an unexpected consequence -- Vladimir announces that he's going to leave his fortune to his prodigal daughter, and Elena must find a way to set aside some of the money to support Sergei and his family without Vladimir knowing about it. Elena received a special jury award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened as part of the Un Certain Regard program. more..

Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev

Starring: Andrei Smirnov, Nadezhda Markina, Yelena Lyadova, Alexey Rozin, Evgenia Konushkina

 30 Reviews  8 Awards

Reviews

  • Post-Soviet Russia in Andrei Zvyagintsev's somber, gripping film Elena is a moral vacuum where money rules, the haves are contemptuous of the have-nots, and class resentment simmers. The movie, which shuttles between the center of Moscow and its outskirts, is grim enough to suggest that even if you were rich, you wouldn't want to live there.

    Stephen Holden - The New York Times

    19 January 2013

  • 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.

    - Los Angeles Times

    19 January 2013

  • Nadezhda Markina is splendid as Elena, who speaks little but still manages to make her thoughts and emotions crystal clear.

    V.A. Musetto - New York Post

    19 January 2013

  • Elena reveals a filmmaker in full command of his art and not much interested in catering to an audience. If you want this film, you have to meet it more than halfway.

    Ty Burr - The Boston Globe

    19 January 2013

  • 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.

    Ella Taylor - NPR

    19 January 2013

Awards

  • Best Performance by an Actress

    Asia Pacific Screen Awards (2011)

  • Andrey Zvyagintsev

    Cannes Film Festival (2011)

  • Andrey Zvyagintsev

    Durban International Film Festival (2011)

  • Best Actress

    European Film Awards (2011)

     

  • Best Film

    Ghent International Film Festival (2011)

Lists

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