Loveless [DVD]

Another brilliant portrayal by Zvyagintsev of life in modern Russia, not quite on the level of Leviathan with its mixture of corruption, politics, and religion, but stunning nevertheless. As in all his films, most of the characters are thoroughly unlikeable, and he has no time for the “happy ending”. Runaway children are an everyday occurrence in Russia, some are found, whether alive or dead, others disappear completely. Here we have the 12-year-old Alexei in 2012 (evident from the occasional references to current events), whose divorcing parents are continually fighting, and who discovers that he was never wanted in the first place. His mother, usually on her phone (as are most people we see), seems angry with the whole world, except for the older man she has taken up with. Alexei’s father, a more resigned character, works in a huge impersonal office. The second half of the film is largely documentary-like, as we see how the voluntary groups who search for missing children go about their work. Two or three moments in the film are devastating; the acting is brilliant throughout. As with all Zvyagintsev’s films, there are beautiful shots of the natural world, at the start and finish in particular. Don’t expect a laugh a minute, or even an hour, but if you want filmmaking at its finest, go to anything by this director. A “making of” feature demonstrates the extreme meticulousness of Zvyagintsev’s methods, and that scenes are shot in a completely different order from how they appear in the film.

"Loveless" is outstanding and I'll leave a review of the film up to far more qualified critics- I just thought I'd add a couple of notes on the features of the Blu Ray. The disk contains a "Making of" (1 hour) and a Q%A with Andrey and the film's producer Alexander Rodnyansky (32 mins) and both are entertaining enough. The documentary is a slow affair with no talking heads , only footage of the director filming a few scenes from the film- interesting to see him work and interesting to see just how amazing the actors are in this film behind the scenes.The Q%A though is lacking. For some weird reason they edited out Andrey speaking and only included the translations of what he said by an interpreter- no subtitles. This seems odd, as we've just watched a full film in Russian, I doubt anyone wold have a problem with hearing Andrey speak in length before being translated. Also frustrating for anyone like me, who speaks Russian. I'd point anyone interested in hearing the director's thoughts to YouTube, where there are many amazing interviews.Just an observation that people might like to know.

Strangely, I consider Zvyagintsev to be a genius but cannot grow to like his style. It's so dry and one-dimensional, I always feel like he is filling his movies with types of people, not real people, to me they they lack individuality.He is very talented in portraying Russia, he feels this country very deeply. I thought that he brilliantly showed adults addiction to phones and dying world of interactions, relationships. Somehow he did it in such subtle way, althought the scenes are so "usual".I have watched a lot of interviews with Zvyagintsev in Russian and it stroked me when he said that often there are two scenarios - that we either love our children and don't raise them or raise them strictly but don't love them enough. To me, the biggest shock in the movie is the scene with a "new" baby of one of the protagonists, which is being "killed" the same way as the missing boy! The scene where he is put into this brutal cot broke my heart.Apparently, many Russians after viewing this movie run home to hug their children, Zvyagintsev mentioned it in few interviews. To me the moral is: put down your phones people and go spend time with you children, your spouses, break the loveless reality! Specially - don't raise a new human being in it!

In this release subtitles are part of the video stream. Technically you cannot watch this movie with subs off, and those subs are also not as sharp as it would be if they would be added naturally (via subtitles channel).It's quite surprising, typical rather for illegal copies. I wonder how it ended that way.If you're after quality, better stick to an American release which is normal (but region A locked)

you could write so much, from mobile phones to Russia today through bad relationships and chikdren. Very bleak about human nature which at times makes it hard viewing. But excellent fim.

This is a film with deep undertones, well acted, didn't notice is was foreign with sub titles. The setting portrayed the eastern European country with its drab landscape and their high rise flats, and how the couple dealt with a 'loveless' marriage and its implications on separating. The mystery was never resolved, but compulsive viewing, would recommend if you like these type of films.

This film's story is about a boy who is caught up in the hatred of his parents as they divorce, and disappears. The fall out of this is the main part of the film. I found the repetitive sexual content rather annoyingly irrelevant.

A cinematographically interesting film but be prepared for a relentlessly depressing watch