Hello this is jake winters for eye on the triangle this is snowverated and this week I will be taking a look at the film leviathan.

Leviathan was released in 2014 and was nominated that year for an Oscar in best foreign film of the year. This category has always been my favorite because it doesn’t limit the film in any way so it is an absolute wildcard. How they are even able to feel confident in choosing a title that encompasses the world of film outside of the united states is somewhat beyond me as it is a huge task. The film that beat it is called Ida and is a polish film as opposed to leviathan which is a Russian film.

Leviathan is sort of like looking into Russian culture as many foreign films often are. You see what is average and simple that we may not have and you can also see a different set of archetypes used in their films. Not so surprisingly the stereotypes of government power and alcoholism in Russia are present in the film. It speaks to how true these must be if someone from the country chooses to represent their home in this way. Of course it was for dramatic effect but it is not so unbelievable that he could not put it in his film. It is worth mentioning that those archetypes exist in American cinema as well, but it is interesting to see how they are used in a Russian context. The only other Russian film that I have watched is called brat. Which you can listen to a review of on our website. There are many similarities between the two and the main thing I think of is the style of filming. Russia has a pretty bleak landscape but that does not mean a film has to drown out colors and make the whole thing muted. It is interesting to me that in such a dull landscape, characterized by ice and cold weather, they would choose to go with such a bleak tone of color. Of course it does fit the film well in the case of both Brat and Leviathan but it would have been interesting to see something a little different. Sometimes a contrasting color scheme brings out themes in the movie more than one that fits the tone as it serves as a juxtaposition of setting and characters.

My main complaint about this movie is that it is slightly long. It drags on in parts that are not necessary but do have value and generally they just lengthen the movie for no real reason. Of course it is not extremely unpleasant what they added as the coast of Russia is a harsh but beautiful area of the world and the shots they did show do a great job of exemplifying that. That all being said though the shots weren’t really necessary ad while they did seem to have some relation to the story of the movie it could have been done in a much more plot driven way instead of just showing some of the areas. The plot is decent, it has surprising turns that fit with the movie and looking back you can think to yourself that you should have seen it coming. Leviathan is a sad movie. It is not a full on tragedy because many of the people our main character loves live to tell the tale but you the way power is taken from our protagonist could not exactly be called happy. The character development throughout the movie is pretty flat for the most part. The charcters are stubborn and set in their ways and none of them really change much throughout the film. This is part of what makes the movie drag on. You can tell where it is going as soon as you figure out who all of the characters are and what they are like, which you can do in a matter of thirty to forty-five minutes. I will say though that with what they came up with for a story I was entertained for the whole movie.

Leviathan is a film that I really don’t think I could recommend to anybody. It doesn’t stand out in my mind as spectacular in any way but it was generally entertaining. If you like to analyze films there is not much there to glean as it is as straightforward as movies come but it can still be an enjoyable film if you have the time to give to it. The best thing about the film is that it doesn’t do anything that sticks out and feels wrong. It is easy to be spoiled with great movies in the age of the internet and it is important to remember that not all films come out as well polished as this one did.

I am going to give this movie a 2/5. The tone was bleak and dreary and the movie went on without too much excitement for the majority of its duration which really is a set up for a pretty boring movie. No beautiful pictures and no shocking drama. Of course there is drama but none of it seemed to come to me as a shock while watching leviathan.

Thank you for listening to this week’s edition of eye on the triangle and snowverated. You can find this movie on Amazon as well as a few other places around the web if you’d like to check it out. I am jake winters, enjoy the rest of your evening.