jeeap The main character gives you a wrong impression from the get-go. You start believing he is a missing part for his family happiness. Old style, mostly brutal, treatment towards his sons somehow make you think it will help them in a long run. But it won't. As we find out later, the father is simply trying to mask his weaknesses with his false toughness. The irony is that his death serves as a turning point for his boys, not his life. They need him to be dead to learn a lesson.

Sandra Milner There is an unwritten rule for good cinema - it's show, don't tell. Cinema is a visual medium and we want to see the story as observers, as if we're actually there. Now these kids have not seen their dead of god-knows how long, to the point where they weren't sure if it was really him at first. Who is this person? Why did he disappear? Why is he back?In an amateur film, we'd have a narrator or a block of text telling us at the start. In weaker films, the mother would have one conversation telling them everything, briefing them, basically. In another kind of weaker film, the dad would do it. "Here you go kids, this is what you want to know."In a good film, we'd have this information revealed to us slowly. For example, they're at a gas station and the dad uses someone else's card/wallet to pay. Let's say that they see him acting suspiciously from the police. Or he sees someone he recognizes, someone who calls him by a different name. Let's say they see his wallet and he has a photo of his other family. He takes off his shirt and there are some Vor tattoos (prisoner and criminal subculture). Or army tattoos. You give us bits of information, here and there.Of course, none of this was done. The father takes them to a lake and that's it.I had hoped that he would tell them things, here and there, conversations, not a whole "this is everything you need to know" conversation, but they talk and he says something here and there. And with these bits we piece together the picture.But this was not done either.You know the feeling when you come into the room and there's a film playing, the middle of the film, where you don't know what's happening. Imagine a slow scene, where not much is being said, and you just don't know what to make of it because you missed the first hour of the film? This is basically that. It's a slow scene from a film made into a complete movie. The information is never revealed.I'm fine with a film leaving some to the imagination. It makes the experience fun as we come up with different theories and talk about it. But this film basically leaves the whole film to your imagination. What's the point? Why even put the disk into the player? Why not turn off the film and just imagine a film from start to end. I'm not complaining "not enough backstory" but there's no story either. There's no context to the events, barely any events and that's about it.And for those who say "cinematography is beautiful" - no, not really. They chose beautiful things to shoot to begin with. Photos of beautiful landscapes and vistas are not necessarily "good photos" - just as photos of pretty girls are not necessary "great photography." This film shot beautiful visuals, but it's just a pretty screensaver. There's nothing special. It's all too obvious. They chose a desolate, distant place to go, the film is shot in dark, dull and grey colors with low contrast (intentionally underexposed?) and the subject matter is dull and gloomy. It's trying to hammer the theme rather than be subtle about it.It is really forced and pointless.This film is the polar opposite of Michael Bay-style Hollywood films, it goes so far the other direction that it becomes terrible. The solution to obesity is not anorexia or starvation, but this is what many directors do nowadays. 2 stars for production quality and the acting of the children.

trancelucence (NOTE: I read reviews here after viewing, and comments in the 'The Return does not have a full-filling end' thread, and left a couple of my own. This review builds on those, and observations made by hilaryjrp and bostonfilmfan).What life is all about, a haunting movie I won't soon forget. So riveting (with very little dialogue) I hardly noticed the subtitles. The action speaks for itself. It's highly suspenseful, and you haven't the faintest idea what's going to happen, yet also full of simple, quiet moments that bespeak volumes (AND mysteries) about the characters.The film is lyrical, poetic, almost subliminal, rather than "expository" (i.e., the payoff being in the journey, rather than the ultimate ending). Actually, lyricism and exposition are so expertly intertwined the film succeeds on BOTH levels. But be forewarned, it has disturbing events, it's no walk in the park- if you're a sensitive person that can't tolerate tragic or traumatic themes, this may not be your cup of tea. But I thought the ending was absolutely seminal to the experience- for both the characters and the VIEWER.This is the kind of movie rife with multiple possible meanings and interpretations, which invites repeat viewing. Moreover, you learn something about yourself in your reactions to what unfolds- what you pay attention to, expect, hope for... fear.***BIG SPOILERS FOLLOW AS PLOT, THEMES AND THE ENDING*** DON'T read further until you've seen the film if, like me you're the kind of person who thrives on discovery and surprise. Reading others' interpretations in advance will color your own, of course.In reviews and comments, some viewers decried the ending- some found it disturbing, others thought it, at the very least, unsatisfying. No, the film does not have a "satisfying" ending (seemingly, anyway, though perhaps there's a kind of symmetry to it), that was the POINT (art imitating life), I thought. The boys learn a terrible lesson. Wherever Dad had been, whether he was a nice guy or not, whether he intended to stick around, whether he planned to make up for lost time, whether they'd resolve issues and forge a relationship- as troubling as those dangling threads (symbolized by the mysterious contents of the box) may have been- they were infinitely better than what actually occurred. (Or WERE they??) Bring down the curtain on EVERYTHING where Dad is concerned. What a shock. Whether they had dreamed of reunion, hated his guts, been crushed by his desertion, yearned for him, whatever, there would now NEVER be a "satisfying ending", no-one would ever find out what the box contained.BUT, there was ALSO the theme of the younger boy's fear of life, of many things. He cried and told his mother at the beginning if she hadn't come he would've died. He threatens to kill himself by jumping off the tower- then, he sees death up close, for real, he's even partly responsible. Crash course in what death REALLY means. What an enigmatic film- note the pics/selfies of the brothers on the trip home (interspersed with the credits- STAY TUNED)- in some they're laughing, now seem lighter (dealt with something unspeakable, faced it with courage, were transformed by the experience? Both brothers change over the course of the film). Perhaps they're now FREE of the spectre of their father's desertion, and all the issues related thereto that have been hanging over their heads for 12 years (achieving a kind of closure). So perhaps the question is, did death represent being cheated of answers and what might have been, OR did it precipitate closure (albeit in a traumatic, kick-in-the-gut fashion)? Could BOTH be true? (Regret over what might have been and the need for closure are both integral parts of the grieving process.) One might even wonder if, all things considered, if Dad or "fate" or God didn't give the boys a gift- the ultimate sacrifice, so that they might begin life anew.In a nutshell, I think The Return is disconcerting because you think at its core it's about a relationship but it's actually about death and its ramifications. In I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER Gene Hackman said "Death ends a life, but it doesn't end a relationship." Or does it? Thematically and mood-wise this film reminded me a lot of a favorite film, Hayao Miyazaki's SPIRITED AWAT- at the beginning Chihiro, too, is negative, whiny and pretty much afraid of everything. While she doesn't face anything quite this bad, her parents will live or die as a result of her actions.And finally, the two brothers solidified their relationship on the trip, bonding as never before. Each became protective of the other when the father was unreasonable or harsh- at different points each threatened to kill him if he hurt the other. At the end the older boy assumed responsibility, never chiding his brother for what he had done, assuming the role of protective big brother or perhaps even "father". Contrast this with the way he treated his little brother at the beginning of the film.However one interprets the film, it appeared that both boys were honed, improved by events, and became closer (in this regard, in many ways, it reminds me of ORDINARY PEOPLE, which involves a death in the family and two people bonding at the expense of a third). LOTS to chew on in The Return! Highly affecting, and though harrowing at times, I thought it was wonderful, brilliant- a work of art.

cline-368 The Return is a film that is full drama and dynamic emotion. It has many themes as well as artistic filming technique to exemplify the deeper meaning of the film. It starts out with two brothers, Andrei and his younger brother Ivan. Andrei seems to be wanting to fit in, and is easily embarrassed by his younger brother Ivan. However, they become closer again after returning home one day to find that their father had returned home after being mysteriously gone for 12 years. The father is brooding and harsh with the boys showing himself as powerful. Ivan has more trouble dealing with this new discipline than Andrei does creating conflict between the father and son. There is a lot of slow, long takes in the film to display the emotion and enhances the drama of the events. This all leads up to the climatic event of Ivan running away from the father to climb a tower. The father runs after him to save him from doing something drastic. Displaying that even though the father is harsh and isn't particularly fatherly, he still has a fatherly instinct to save his son. The movie has a lot of themes that play out through the film including love, tragedy, drama, and survival. The showing of the love of brothers, and how deep love runs even if it isn't apparent at the surface. The tragedy of not having a father for the first part of your life, and the tragedy of death. The dramatic events throughout the film. And the display of strength to survive even after tragedy. It is an excellent film