Director Andrei Zhivakintsev left only one answer to the media's questions after winning various awards:
It is not a simple father-son relationship. To a large extent, it looks at life from a mythological perspective, and everything has its meaning. "
1. The meaning of the theme
The story begins on an ordinary Sunday. A stranger appears in front of Andre and Ivan in a familiar identity. A person who has never appeared in their lives will force the brothers to accept it as a "father". The word "father" is nothing but a congenital decision of blood, and it doesn't hurt or itches, while "father love" is an acquired feeling. However, under the absolute tyranny's requirements and obedience, the transformation of "patriarchy" has been achieved. In society, too many parents can't figure out this kind of relationship. Let’s zoom in on this setting to the national background at that time. 12 years was the time when my father left, which happened to be the time when the Soviet Union disintegrated. In 1991, the Soviet Union disintegrated. After decades of totalitarianism, the Russian nation experienced the demise of the Soviet regime. How to find yourself. Stalin's government is like an authoritarian father, and Russia is his child. The father seems to be arrogant and unreasonable to educate the child to grow up quickly. While resisting, the child is silently accepting what his father passed on. Imperceptibly, the spirit of the former Soviet Union is indelible in Russia. The roots of the film, so the title "Return" also points out that this is also a "root-seeking" story. In the process, the obedience of the elder brother and the resistance of the younger brother are like the obedience of the Russian people at that time, but they are very distrustful in their hearts. "He will tear our throats in the forest," my brother laughed at him for being unfounded, a metaphor for the Russian people's confusion about the autocratic regime at that time, and the strange attitudes of various people towards "patriarchy".
This is a sad movie. A boy suddenly fell into the deep sea. Since the two brothers started to chase and run, they knew that this was not an ordinary story. The appearance of an unfamiliar father made the playful and playful brothers overwhelmed and scared. All the doubts swirled around their heads. Before they could clear these doubts, they were about to embark on what they thought was just a simple fishing trip, except for the father. It would be a boy's growth and transformation (perhaps the father didn't even think of it). I thought that the returning father would use endless tenderness to resolve so many years of guilt and regret. I didn't expect that the man called the father would teach the child to face the setbacks of the road of life in an almost violent way throughout the whole process. This is the only thing in the male world. Some are majestic and domineering. The two brothers who grew up under the gentle protection of their mother could not understand it, but the two brothers had completely different attitudes towards this. Andrei showed his desire and admiration for his father's strength, while Ivan It is anger and doubt. He questioned his father's identity more than once in the process, because this way of expressing love is unreasonable in the consciousness of receiving care and growing up from a young age, and he wants to return to the tender mother's love. In the end, Ivan stood on the top of the lighthouse. He grew up unknowingly and conquered the initial fear. At this time, the sudden death of his father, the boy who had been under pressure was overwhelmed, but was able to make a decision. It heralds the boy's spiritual completion of the birth of a man. The brother sea drowns his father and disappears. In pain, he can't call out "Dad" by himself. That moment is not only the acceptance and reluctance of his father, but also the welcome to his own growth as a father, and it is also one of the signs of growing into a man. The final disappearance of the father was very easy, as if he was a person who never existed, the image of the father, the incarnation of a god, just like the Jehovah of Genesis. In seven days, God created the world, and the father grew up with children.
In 12 years, my father left and returned. What happened during this period, no one knows, in 12 years, time has completed its return in a sense. However, the father's love was unable to complete the return under the invisible ice-water-like estrangement between father and son for many years. The death of the father indirectly achieved the return of the children's growth. From Sunday to Saturday, the cycle of reincarnation is not only the contradiction between father and son, but also the life and death of faith; 12 years is not only what happened in a family, but in this film, it is also what the Russian people should do after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
2. The dramatic "relationship" and "evolution" of the main characters
The father left for 12 years, and the brothers grew up under the meticulous care of the mother. Children who grow up in a matriarchal family must have a lack of character. The absence of the father makes the two women in the family bear the burden of the family, and the women are in the lead. Status, the son grows up under their blessing, and his character will be more cowardly and gentle. The mother's unreasonable tolerance can be seen in the clip of Ivan diving. Ivan does not have the courage to jump, and the mother thinks about it. Without thinking, I climbed up such a high lighthouse and hugged my son. Ivan said that he was worried about being laughed at by his companions. His mother quickly hugged and comforted him, "No one will know! Don't worry." Diving is not a matter of principle, but it can be done in One of the bits and pieces of image-building among male companions, even in these small things, the mother is repeatedly tolerant, inhibiting Ivan from developing the independent and strong personality that a boy should have. Ivan's timidity was fostered by his mother's arms, forming dependence, so there was no male-oriented worldview in Ivan's consciousness, which is why he couldn't accept the behavior of his powerful and violent father later, and always wanted to go back . As soon as his father's appearance broke Ivan's bottom line, the father appeared in a high position between the mother and the grandmother, and the seat was also in the leading position of the whole family. The whole process from drinking to eating meat was controlled by the father. The mother who originally supported the family changed. He had to obey, the status of women was plummeting at this moment, and what Ivan depended on was defeated by such a man. Such a picture had never appeared in Ivan's worldview. He felt very uncomfortable, and he did not understand and did not want to accept it. And brother Andre has shown admiration for his father's strength from the very beginning. At the beginning of the diving game, he didn't want to be seen as a coward and jumped directly. It can be seen that he is pursuing what the male world needs. He wished he had the power of a man. After Ivan mocked Andre for believing every word of the man he had known for a few days, Andre's answer was "he's an adult" instead of answering that he was "father". In Andre's eyes, This man was a symbol of power, he didn't really fall in love with his father, but he had qualities in him that he admired and wanted to have, so Andre followed those qualities.
Ivan questioned his father several times in the process. From the first time he saw his father sleeping, he ran up to the attic to look at the photos, and only when he saw the father in the photo did he confirm his father's identity; the second time he slept the night before departure. Before, Ivan once again questioned his father's "pilot" status, and Andre said with certainty that he was on vacation, and the two brothers had very different attitudes. Next, during the journey, Ivan and his father kept conflicting. The strength of his father made Ivan revolt uncontrollably, and Ivan's doubts about his father became deeper and deeper. On a camping night, Ivan once again confronted his brother. Questioned, saying that his father "is a gangster who will tear our throats in the jungle." Andrei laughed and said Ivan was an idiot. Ivan finally broke out after his father interrupted his fishing the next day and made him drenched in heavy rain. This kind of punishment may have never happened to him. He felt wronged. He missed his mother and the infinite tolerant gentleness. Not being scorned in front of this cruel man, so he kept asking "Why? Why did he come back? Why did he bring them out?" "We are just as good as mom and grandma without you." His Oedipus complex, he hopes to return to the stable state before, in the world he constructed, there should not be such a powerful intrusion, such intrusion makes him feel scared and helpless, so he rejects the existence of his father , to exclude the existence of the father's dominant power. Later, the car got stuck in the mud, and Andre was not ready to be slapped by his father. Ivan was completely angry and exposed himself to Andre at night, "If he touches me again, I will kill him." At this time, Ivan's patience with his father was about to reach the limit. Later, the father took the two brothers to the lighthouse, and Ivan excused himself not to go up. During the meal, you could see that Andrei and his father were sitting side by side, while Ivan himself sat opposite to him, showing Andrei's feelings for his father Taking a step closer, he would even chat and laugh with his father, while Ivan felt very lonely and uneasy when he saw his brother and his father go further and further. The last outbreak was when the two brothers returned home late because of their playfulness. The father was worried and became furious and began to beat and scold Andrei. Ivan finally couldn't help but pick up the knife and wanted to kill his father. Here we can see that Ivan already has What changed, Ivan and his father, who were afraid to do anything in the face of the boy who grabbed his wallet and hit him when he first set off, got along with his father for a few days, and subtly accepted his father's violent methods. Although it was trembling, there were already Injected with masculine traits. Later, Ivan did not hesitate to climb up to the lighthouse that was still making excuses the day before, and even threatened to jump off. Ivan is obviously much braver than he was at the beginning. But at this moment, the father died suddenly, and the two brothers The younger brother saw his father with powerful energy lying in front of him like this, suddenly at a loss, but in the next second, the elder brother made a decision to move the father away. The powerful father has disappeared, and the brother who has lost the leader has become the leader himself, which can be regarded as the replacement of the "father" status. Such a ceremony was completed in an instant. Later, when the two brothers saw their father sinking with the boat, they couldn't help calling out "Dad" in a heart-wrenching manner. The "Dad" here is a heartfelt reluctance for their father. One time to correct Ivan to add "Dad", Ivan was unwilling, but just succumbed to his father's power, so his father's departure, Ivan's emotional expression became more intense. In the last "Dad", you can see that the two brothers realize their feelings for their father because of the sudden departure of their father, which also marks the growth of the brothers.
3. Audio and video, style
The feeling of watching the whole movie is very clean and depressing, from the storyline to the shooting techniques. The director likes to shoot in a large area, with a large area of sea, a large area of grass, and a large area of forest. All the scenery becomes mysterious and cold in the cool tones. Both the scenery and the tone form a double loneliness, bringing Russia The unique spirit sets the tone of the film. With the exception of the red car, colors other than teal are hardly ever seen in the film. Such a cold tone makes the plot ups and downs of the whole movie even more depressing. The father and son rarely appear in the same picture. This treatment accentuates the indifferent and difficult integration of the relationship between father and son like blue tones. The whole film relies on natural light for the most part, there is no big contrast, and the actors' performances are also under the control of editing. His personality, or more in line with his god-like setting, he himself is an ethereal existence. The dialogue between the characters is also handled extremely cleanly, not a word is nonsense, "I ate too much fish." "Where?" "Far away", many places that can be explained more clearly are ended with very concise and clear sentences . The soundtrack of the film is also minimal, and all points are handled with extreme restraint, making the whole film look more grim and grim. There are clips of characters chasing before and after the film. The director did not choose to use long shots to express it, but he can still feel the coherence of the whole chase. Playful, the whole scene is very bright, there are many scenes of two people in the same frame, they usually run home after quarreling, they know where they are going; and the second chase is the outbreak of conflict, the scene is dark green. Only one person can be captured in each shot, which means that the three people at this time are divided, and no matter how much they chase, they can't catch up with each other. Put the camera in front of everyone and shoot until the characters run out of the camera, indicating that they don't know where they are going, what they are going to face, everything becomes blurred, and this processing makes the rhythm tense The mystery leads to the climax of the whole film.
4. Symbolic metaphors
The film is full of metaphors about God, and the father is the embodiment of God. In terms of time, the father appeared on Sunday to die on Saturday, which lasted for a week, which was exactly the time when God created the world. The picture of the father's first appearance points out the image of the father as a god. The picture of the father falling asleep is consistent with the famous painting "The Dead Christ" by the Italian painter Mantegna in the 15th century. The pose disappears into the sea.
Ivan went to the attic to look through the photos to verify the identity of his father. The photo he turned out was placed in a Bible picture book. The camera was positioned on a family photo of four people, with a Bible print by German painter Carlos Feld behind it.” "Abraham killed his son and sacrificed" is taken from a passage in the Old Testament of the Bible. In order to test whether Abraham was faithful to himself, God asked him to kill his only son Isaac to sacrifice. Abraham chose to obey the order. The angel dispatched stopped him just in time, replacing Isaac's life with a lamb. "Killing the son" and "killing the father" were both reflected in the last quarrel between the father and son. The father held an axe to kill Andrei, and Ivan threatened the father with a knife to resist. The process was full of contradictions and conflicts. Facing the sudden patriarchal control, the son expressed different attitudes towards this struggle of "love and power", but the contradiction was not alleviated after all.
After the death of the father, the two brothers returned to the car and looked up the old photos, only to find that the father disappeared in the original position, echoing the photos in the Bible mentioned earlier, representing the disappearance of patriarchy; the photo shown at the end There is also no image of the father in the book, revealing again that the father is a metaphor of God, as if he had never appeared, he has become a symbol, witnessing the growth of Andre and Ivan.
In addition to the confirmation of the image, the father's behavior from beginning to end has always been in a mysterious state, where did he come from, the identity of the pilot, the mysterious phone call he made, the things he said to do, the digging from the ground that seemed to have been buried for a long time box, and the dialogue he always says halfway through, such as "I've eaten too much fish." "Where?" "It's far away." There are too many mysteries around the father, but in the end he disappeared with these mysteries. This kind of setting all points to "the father is a god". Using surrealism, all this is beyond reality and cannot be explained. their existence.
My father sank into the sea and disappeared. Why did I arrange for two brothers to describe the process of dragging my father from the jungle to the sea without directly burying my father in the ground for nearly 20 minutes? This part is also religious when I found it online. Meaning, Christianity has a "baptism" ceremony, and believers must be immersed in water when they are baptized, so that they can wash away their original sin and original sin, and can obtain "God's grace". No matter what, the identity of a father is a sin for a child. His absence caused a lack of character in the child, and his return brought a shock to the child's soul. He finally died to save his son, washed away his sins, and finally got a sublime and return.
In the whole film, most of the scenes of fathers facing their children are shot upwards, representing the supremacy of patriarchy.
There is a political metaphor throughout the film, and the license plate number on the car Ivan is leaning against happens to be 9123.
Andre and Ivan's reflections in the water on the way back at the wrong time, they can't see the expressions, only the silhouette of the shadow and the floating water surface. At this time, their hearts are confused and fearful, and they are afraid of the father they will face later. , also indirectly shows the hegemonic rule of the patriarchy. Although the two brothers have different attitudes towards their fathers, the gentle and cowardly personalities cultivated in the matrilineal family are still afraid of facing powerful forces.
The lighthouse appeared three times in the film. The first two shots used different angles to present the lighthouse. The same shot was taken from the bottom to the top, and the height beyond the head made people shudder.
The existence of the lighthouse and the existence of the father have the same purpose. The two echo each other and represent a strong hegemony. Ivan has an inescapable fear of both. In the second appearance of the lighthouse, Ivan looked at the lighthouse in the distance. At this time, the lighthouse and Ivan showed a virtual equal height, implying that Ivan expected to conquer it, which means that Ivan began to appear in the male world. Conquer desire. When the lighthouse appeared for the last time, it no longer had an upward shooting angle, but more from top to bottom, which represented that Ivan had overcome his inner fear at this time, and was one of the symbols of Ivan's growth in the male world.
Describes a long period of father's behavior of looking at women in the rearview mirror. This is the embodiment of "sex" in the male world. In addition to majesty and a sense of responsibility, there are innate desires in the male world, including drinking and driving before, and fathers being indifferent in front of their sons. Undisguised, it is also incomprehensible to sons, but fathers need to let sons see more characteristics that belong to men in order to construct a complete male worldview.
5. Features of this film
It is said that the director has made a lot of changes to the script. The script of the film was originally a film with a treasure hunt plot. The father and son found the black box on the mysterious island on the way back, but they were taken away with all the people and objects on the way, and only the left The two brothers go home. The director directly changed the ending of the film to the accidental death of his father and then sank to the bottom of the sea with the mysterious black box. The beginning and the end of the story are made into a very fantasy reincarnation. The father comes as Jesus is reborn, and finally disappears with all the mystery. The final adaptation sublimates the image of the father, showing that he is a non-existent from the beginning to the end. The "people" in the film may be interpreted as the desire and demand for the construction of the male world in the hearts of the sons, and the guide and witness sent by God, making the whole film a mythical allegory. The whole film has a very strong sense of ritual. The birth of fatherhood is metaphorized by the painting of Jesus' death. In the end, the father is slowly sinking into the sea, as if he is receiving the baptism ceremony of God. The handover of fatherhood is settled after the two brothers are silent. The first command spoken by Dreyer was completed, and even Ivan was sitting on a separate branch fishing at the end of the shooting scene. The cut picture was like a ritual to a memory. Finally, the time is also a sense of ritual. The time background of the film is set within seven days, and all the stories are divided into this timeline. The beginning of each day is explained with a separate and complete screen, emphasizing that the advancement of time drives the The development of the story, one week is also the time of creation, bringing a mythological atmosphere; the second film uses a lot of old photos, old cars, and wild survival methods from a long time ago. These elements come from different time and space, and objects from different time and space are placed in the When expressed in one time and space, the boundaries of time no longer exist; in the end, the outbreak between father and son, also because of time, became the fuse of the climax of the whole film; there is also the use of time nodes to correspond to the real background, the release date of the film is 2003, and the father left 12 years, exactly the time when the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, is connected with historical events, and once again uses time to broaden the connotation of the film.
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