‘Minotaur’ jolts the Cannes Movie Pageant

Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev despatched shock waves by the Cannes Movie Pageant with a soberly damning crime movie about homicide and corruption in Russia, set in opposition to the conscription of younger males into President Vladimir Putin’s warfare with Ukraine.

‘Minotaur’, which debuted Tuesday night time on the French competition, was probably the most anticipated choices at this 12 months’s Cannes. The movie rewarded these expectations, receiving one of many competition’s most enthusiastic responses and placing the Russian filmmaker squarely within the combine for the Palme d’Or.

Whereas ‘Minotaur’ is outwardly centred round a married couple, its story has apparent political reverberations. Dmitriy Mazurov performs the chief govt of a giant transport firm who, as Russia’s navy mobilises for the all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, is requested to contribute a quota of 150 employees to the mounting warfare effort.

On the similar time, Mazurov begins investigating the suspected infidelity of his spouse, performed by Iris Lebedeva. As ‘Minotaur’ evolves, their household drama takes on darker symbolism for the deceptions and savagery of Putin’s warfare. “It was vital for me to make this movie given the present Russian context,” Zvyagintsev advised reporters on Wednesday. “It was an ideal pretext to say some vital issues.”

For Zvyagintsev, it was a long-awaited triumph. His earlier two movies, ‘Leviathan’ (2014) and ‘Loveless’ (2017), had been each critically acclaimed Oscar nominees. However in the course of the pandemic, sickness pressured Zvyagintsev into an induced coma for 40 days.

Recovering in a German clinic, he needed to relearn methods to stroll and maintain utensils. A 12 months later, in 2022 and nonetheless in a wheelchair, he moved his household to Paris. “It’s one of many biggest issues that’s occurred to me over these final 9 years,” Zvyagintsev mentioned of returning to Cannes, the place his earlier two movies debuted. “Coming again after such a prolonged absence to the Cannes Movie Pageant is a completely incomparable occasion.”