When I told Russian director, Andrei Zvyagintsev, how anxious his latest film, Elena, made me, he responded, “Why didn’t you leave the theatre and run away!” Fortunately, I was watching the film from the comfort of my own bed, but what I explained to him that this anxiety was the good kind: it meant the film was really speaking to me and causing something visceral even in its scarcity. Best known for his 2003 film, The Return, Zvyagintsev’s name may not (or, frankly, ever) be a household name in the U.S., but he has been gaining acclaim internationally, with cinephiles and critics alike putting him next to such masters as Andrei Tarkovsky.
