I recently saw this at the 1012 Palm Springs International Film Festival. Directed by Andrei Zvyaginsev who co-wrote the screenplay with Oleg Negin this is the story of Elena (Nadezhda Markina) who is the wife of a wealthy Russina Businessman Vladimer (Audrey Smirnov) a sixty-something couple living in a beautiful apartment in an affluent part of town. They've only been married a couple of years and Elena is more of a live-in housekeeper to Vladimer than a equal partner spouse. Vladimer has an estranged daughter Katerina (Elena Lyadova) while Elena has a son Sasha (Igor Ogurtsov). Sasha lives a trailer trash kind of existence, always out of work and living in a small apartment with his wife (Eugenia Konushkina) and their ne'er-do-well son Sergei (Alex Rozin). Elena wants to help out her family and resorts to criminal acts to do so after Vladimer refuses to let them sponge off him. Great production design by Audrey Poncictrov and his art direction team with wonderful cinematography by Mikail Kirchman and good editing from Anna Mass the film also features a wonderful score by noted international film composer Phillip Glass. There is no middle class in this film as it centers around an upper class couple and a lower class family and touches upon the homeless. The film is slow however and elicits little sympathy for the characters. The central character, who you like at first, you end up not liking. The wealthy husband and his daughter, who you don't like at first, you kind of end up liking but the daughter lets you down and the son and his family, you never end up liking. You really end up disliking everyone in this film even though the father and daughter have a moment of reconciliation. Despite some good acting and a technically well made film this really never gets off the ground. I don't see how it received a Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. I would give it a generous 6.5 out of 10.
