Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Leviathan” opens in cinemas
The Russian director’s new film, which opens in cinemas on the 1st of January, 2015, is based on a true story and set in a small village on the shores of the Barents Sea
Leviathan is based on a true story that was brought to the attention of director Andrey Zvyagintsev while filming in the USA and concerns Marvin Heemeyer, the owner of an automobile exhaust repair shop in a village in Colorado who, following a run-in with the local council, ended up committing suicide.
Co-written with Oleg Negin and winner of the Best Screenplay Award at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, Leviathan has been adapted to tell the tale of Kolia, a local resident who becomes involved in a battle against the mayor of his village who does everything in his power to expropriate Kolia’s house and workshop despite the latter’s firm resistance.
Zvyagintsev, winner of the Venice Golden Lion for his first full-length film, The Return, in 2003 and the Special Jury Prize at Cannes in 2011 with Elena, has also taken inspiration from the biblical story of the Book of Job as well as the Heinrich von Kleist novel Michael Kolhaas.
The film, which still awaits permission to be shown in Russia, was shot in the Kola Peninsula in 2013 and opens in cinemas on our shores on the 1st of January, 2015.
Leviatán
Opens in cinemes from January 1st
More information here