Loveless, Faute d’amour, a film you cannot miss

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Alexey Rozin plays Boris, the unfaithful father

There have been few films this summer that I felt like recommending without hesitation and now I have seen LOVELESS, the Russian film directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev, who won the Prix du Jury in Cannes last May, and it is a must see. Don’t wait a second, just go…

Maryana Spivak, (Zhenya) is the absent mother of Alyosha

This film recounts the life of so many modern successful couples. It is set in Russia but could be in any other modern country: Zhenya is a beautiful sexy young woman who works at a hairdresser, Boris is an anonymous employee of a large company run by a tyrannical religious Orthodox.

Alyosha is a mysterious and charming little boy played by Matvey Novikov

They have a 12 year old clever boy who is unhappy and unloved. When he hears them fighting yet again and discussing sending him to a boarding school, Alyosha disappears. The two hour and seven minutes film narrates the long search for the boy, the parallel lives led by the two protagonists, their unhappy childhoods. One of the great characters is that of the head of the volunteer’s group who specializes in finding lost children. But all actors are fabulous and handsome.

In Cannes last May the team of the film poses with Andrey Zvyagintsev, second from right

It is a fascinating description of a couple who, like in Ingmar Bergman’s films, cannot speak to each other. They both look for hypothetical better lives with a younger woman or a trendier and richer lover. This is Andrey Zvyagintsev’s fourth feature film  and it follows “Leviathan” which was a huge success. What I loved about the film was discovering a Russian way of life that we never see. Th successful lover lives in a loft that could be in Brooklyn. Zhenya could be having her hair cut in London or Münich.Ther is a universality to this tale that we can all associate with, a 21 st century cliché situation!

But what talent  in telling the story… (Out in Paris. London release on February 9, 2018)

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4 Comments on “Loveless, Faute d’amour, a film you cannot miss”

  1. FAUTE d’AMOUR has been on the top of my list since I saw the poster in the metro !
    Thanks for the encouragement to go see the film !

    Follow Stefaniarousselle instagram on her summer AMOUR road trip throughout France “C’est quoi l’Amour ?
    What is LOVE ?” Very moving stories and heartening photos.

    Stefania’s column”C’est quoi l’AMOUR?” starts in Le Monde this week-end !

  2. I saw it yesterday evening.

    The glass of the flat is full of tears. Vert sas tale.
    How many years to wait for happiness in such families ?

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