MINOTAUR
Minotaur by Andreï Zviaguintsev: the war within
Russian filmmaker and Festival de Cannes regular Andreï Zviaguintsev has already graced the Croisette many times, specifically for Izgnanie (The Banishment), (Award for Best Actor in 2007), Elena (Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize in 2011), Leviathan (Award for Best Screenplay in 2014), and Nelyubov (Loveless) (Jury Prize in 2017). After having also been a member of the Feature Films Jury, chaired by Cate Blanchett in 2018, he makes another appearance In Competition with Minotaur, his new feature film.
In Minotaur, Andreï Zviaguintsev addresses the war in Ukraine as a backdrop, as a Russian filmmaker who has always been against it.
The film is set in 2022, in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It follows a Russian middle-class family comprising Gleb, Galina, and their son. The family lives in a small town where Gleb owns his own business. Their daily life, as well as that of the people close to them and their compatriots, will be turned upside down as the conflict starts. Some migrate to the West, while others are drafted by the government, including many of Gleb’s employees, which puts his company at risk.
In this backdrop of geopolitical and workplace tensions, Zviaguintsev adds a domestic dimension that pushes Gleb to violence when he discovers that his wife has been unfaithful. This part of the screenplay, which is a tipping point, was directly inspired by Claude Chabrol’s La Femme infidèle (The Unfaithful Wife). The film draws a parallel between the start of the war by Russia and the personal implosion of Gleb, who is frustrated in every way.
Already, in Vozvrashchenie (The Return), Zviaguintsev addresses masculinity in crisis through a tyrannical and unpredictable father. The film’s title refers to the mythological figure of the Minotaur and alludes to the beastly monster that lies in each of us.
