Elena (2011)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Elena (2011) – A. Zvyagintsev

A study of the contrasts in modern Russia with Nadezhda Markina’s title character caught right in the middle.  She’s a late middle-aged former nurse recently married to a very rich older man who she previously took care of after a hospital stay.  Both have adult children from previous marriages.  Elena’s son is married with two kids but jobless and living in a run down apartment building covered in graffiti.  Elena’s husband does not approve and seeks to stop her from giving money to her son.  Clearly, he wields all the power in their relationship and he brusquely asks her to serve him.  Director Zvyagintsev (The Return, Leviathan, Loveless) takes a long time setting up the characters and their lives and the juxtaposition between their wealthy upper class existence and the son’s relative poverty (but also their earthiness against his ruthlessness).  Eventually, the plot turns into a sort of morality play when Elena needs to come to terms with her husband’s disdain for her family (and herself?).  Perhaps she takes a leaf from her husband’s estranged daughter’s book (played superbly by Elena Lyadova, tough but human).  Similarly to his other features, Zvyagintsev gives no hints as to where the plot might lead, which ultimately creates suspense.  The denouement, though puzzling, can be read in multiple ways – it feels deeply ambivalent.  The film also looks beautiful with a quality of natural light (often bright sunlight) that makes each image seem like an artwork all its own.