The main character gives you a wrong impression from the get-go. You start believing he is a missing part for his family happiness. Old style, mostly brutal, treatment towards his sons somehow make you think it will help them in a long run. But it won't. As we find out later, the father is simply trying to mask his weaknesses with his false toughness. The irony is that his death serves as a turning point for his boys, not his life. They need him to be dead to learn a lesson.

Zvyaginstev treats film making following Tarkovsky like Brahms and Mendelssohn composed music after Beethoven. Tarkovsky's shadow proved to extend too far for Zvyaginstev to escape. However, the way Zvyaginstev handles this sense of dominance is extremely tasteful. The references to Tarkovsky are scattered with the perfect amount of variation from the original. By referencing the great Russian film maker, he ran the risk of only imitation. However, the takes on motifs like Christianity and water are put forth in such a way that they seem like extensions and not imitations. Where the piece varies, the young film maker is actually critiquing his predecessor. For instance, Tarkovsky's marked open-endedness is challenged by "The Return," which has a much tighter story line. Brahms did the same thing when he quoted the exact same hymn used in Beethoven's 9th symphony in his 1st symphony, but restricted the symphonic form to an instrumental genre where Beethoven opened it up to a mixture of instrumental and vocal music.

The Return is a brilliant take on a Russian psychological drama/mystery film. Although not as action-packed as I had expected, the film is extremely suspenseful and emotionally stimulating. The dark and dreary landscape sets a very somber tone for the whole film and although the action is somewhat slow, the story keeps you engaged with the intense emotion conveyed through conversation and facial expressions. The Return tells the story of two young brothers who have to adjust to the homecoming of their father who has been absent for twelve years. The father is immediately portrayed as a mysterious and domineering figure. You aren't given any information about where he's been or who he really is, so you must base your opinion solely on how he acts now. I struggled with deciding whether he loved his sons and wanted to teach them some lessons to toughen them up, or whether he was really just a violent, disturbed man, or some combination of both. We see Andrei and Vanya struggling themselves with what to think of their father. Andrei just wants his father to love him, listening to him without question and trying to act tough, although that wasn't his true character. On the other hand, Vanya is not pleased at all with this man being gone his whole life coming back and telling him what to do. The dynamic of each relationship makes for a very interesting camping trip. From scene to scene you find yourself wondering when something "big" is going to happen. When it finally does- the death of the father- it brings a mix of emotions. By that point, I was fed up with his cruelty; but then he climbs to the top of the tower to try and save a scared Vanya, ultimately sacrificing himself. We never do get answers as to what the father did for a living or what was in the box he recovered; as an audience member, this is frustrating, but it also allows you to form your own conclusions and opinions about the father. There are many iconic films in history that, although are artistically revolutionary, are hard for the general public to watch, but I think The Return is both a creative masterpiece and one most people would enjoy.

The Return is a film that is full drama and dynamic emotion. It has many themes as well as artistic filming technique to exemplify the deeper meaning of the film. It starts out with two brothers, Andrei and his younger brother Ivan. Andrei seems to be wanting to fit in, and is easily embarrassed by his younger brother Ivan. However, they become closer again after returning home one day to find that their father had returned home after being mysteriously gone for 12 years. The father is brooding and harsh with the boys showing himself as powerful. Ivan has more trouble dealing with this new discipline than Andrei does creating conflict between the father and son. There is a lot of slow, long takes in the film to display the emotion and enhances the drama of the events. This all leads up to the climatic event of Ivan running away from the father to climb a tower. The father runs after him to save him from doing something drastic. Displaying that even though the father is harsh and isn't particularly fatherly, he still has a fatherly instinct to save his son. The movie has a lot of themes that play out through the film including love, tragedy, drama, and survival. The showing of the love of brothers, and how deep love runs even if it isn't apparent at the surface. The tragedy of not having a father for the first part of your life, and the tragedy of death. The dramatic events throughout the film. And the display of strength to survive even after tragedy. It is an excellent film