Movie No. 85 (2017): LOVELESS

Loveless (2017)
Director: Andrei Zyvagintsev
Cast: Alexei Rozhin, Maryana Spivak, Matvey Novikov
In Russian, with English subtitles

The movie is a complex narrative that discusses a "loveless" marriage and divorce and their effect on an "unwanted" child in the midst of religious fundamentalism, current social norms and selfie culture in Russia.

The movie is full of metaphors. There are cinematic executions that make the movie more artful and help make the narrative flow fluidly. Some scenes that linger on my mind are those that show the soon-to-be-divorced couple having sex with their respective lovers while their son is "walking out" of their lives. The image of a severed body of a child in one scene is a shocking metaphor to the effect of the negligence of the adult society on Russian children in general. Writing reminds me of Stings protest song called "Russians." The line "I hope the Russians love their children, too." reverberates. I also love the movie's seeming tribute to Michael Antonioni's L'Avventura, Ingmar Bergman's Scenes From A Marriage, and, in my opinion, Atom Egoyan's Exotica, in some scenes.

I really love this movie despite its disturbing theme or message. As a movie, with all the necessary aspects, Loveless deserves love. This is one of the best movie's I've seen recetly.

Rating: 4.0/4.0

Date seen: December 26, 2017