Elena

This a a film made by Andrey Zvyagintsev, who made The Return. It is a very gripping and persuasive film about a couple who have been together for ten years or so and married for two. He, Vladimir, is elderly and comfortably prosperous and she, Katerina, was previously a nurse. They both separately have children. He has an estranged daughter and she has a married son with a wife and children. The camera starts by following their daily routine in the spacious and fairly luxurious flat. Clearly he has made some money and is now retired, and she waits on him. There is mutual respect and affection.  

The destabilising in influence is Katerina's son, who is an unemployed wastrel with a wife and two children, and Katerina feels obliged to ask Vladimir for handouts for them. Vladimir is not unreasonable, but feels that this can't go on indefinitely, and there is some tension between him and Katerina.

In the opening section of the film the camera quietly observes the couple in their daily routine; the cinematography being one of the strengths of this film. The four main characters, Katerina, Vladimir, his daughter and her son are vividly realised, as is the urban environment, and the film leads to a gut-wrenching conclusion. In the course of the film we are shown a section through Russian society, seeing how it is stratified from gated communities down to poor tenements haunted by threatening yobs. There is good health care for those who can pay. This is a stunningly well made film, keenly judged, well acted, finely scripted, perfectly paced and with outstanding cinematography.