Elena

109 min. | Rated NR

Elena, a Russian film, leaves you with the sense that the old Russian dushá (spirit, soul) or Russian spirituality (a spirituality that permeates, for example, Crime and Punishment) has been replaced by the cold, evolutionary logic of the selfish genes. The magic of Russian madness has been driven to extinction by the power pressures of money (pay attention to the horse scene in this movie). If you are not thinking about money, searching for money, making money, then you will fail to support, feed, shelter, educate the vehicles that will transport your genes into the future (pay attention to the final shots of this movie). (CHARLES MUDEDE)

Official Site: www.zeitgeistfilms.com/elena
Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev
Writer: Alexander Rodnyansky and Oleg Negin
Producer: Alexander Rodnyansky
Cast: Nadezhda Markina, Andrey Smirnov, Yelena Lyadova, Alexey Rozin, Evgenia Konushkina, Igor Ogurtsov, Vasiliy Michkiv and Alexey Maslodudov