By Miranda Murray and Francesca Halliwell
CANNES, France, May 20 (Reuters) – Fate dictated that Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev’s first feature since leaving his homeland, “Minotaur” – competing at the Cannes Film Festival – was set during the Ukraine war, he told journalists on Wednesday.
The director said the idea to adapt French director Claude Chabrol’s 1969 marital drama “La Femme Infidele” came to him soon after his previous Cannes entry, “Loveless”, was released nearly a decade ago.
Zvyagintsev said he found what he described as a gap in the original’s lack of focus on the protagonist’s work life.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and subsequent mobilisation while the director was working on the script proved an apt setting to better flesh out the protagonist.
Chabrol “focused on the crime and on the relationship between husband and wife, whereas life itself – fate – brought in this adjustment, and very appropriately,” he said.
PRESSURES AT HOME AND OUTSIDE
“Minotaur” follows Gleb, a well-off entrepreneur living in a rural Russian town whose domestic life begins to unravel after he finds out his wife is having an affair.
At the same time, he has been given the difficult decision of picking 14 men from his company to send off for mobilisation.
In both cases, his monstrous side comes out – hence the reference to the mythological Greek figure that lends its name to the film.
“Minotaur” is one of 22 films competing for Cannes’ top prize, which will be announced at the closing ceremony on May 23.
Critics praised the film for its portrayal of a society that has become rotten. The Hollywood Reporter described it as his most openly critical commentary on Russia’s political, spiritual and moral malaise, “a denunciation never said in so many words but expressed with intricate layers of irony.”
TRANSITIONAL PHASE
Zvyagintsev, who has been living in exile in France since a life-threatening case of COVID-19 during the pandemic, became an international sensation in 2003 when his debut film “The Return” won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival.
His follow-up, “The Banishment,” competed for Cannes’ top prize, the Palme d’Or, in 2007, as did the controversial Oscar-nominated bleak portrayal of life in rural Russia, “Leviathan.”
The 62-year-old director said making “Minotaur” had marked a transition for him after a nine-year hiatus.
“This was a sort of gateway,” he said.
“Apart from the fact that we had a duty to bear witness to the times and share our thoughts on current events, I believe there will be more to come.”
(Reporting by Francesca Halliwell and Miranda Murray; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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