Elena - Trailer

A middle-aged woman goes about her morning routine in a luxury apartment, waking a man sleeping in another room and making him breakfast. Not until they speak to each other is it clear that she is not the live-in housekeeper. In fact, Elena (Nadezhda Markina) is the second wife of the wealthy Vladimir (Andrey Smirnov). In this masterfully understated opening sequence, director Andrey Zvyagintsev offers a telling first glimpse of the tension underpinning Elena.

Elena and Vladimir are from distinctly different segments of society, as is reflected in perfectly contrasted scenes of their sorties from home: Elena takes the train to the poorer suburbs to visit her jobless son, while Vladimir drives his luxury car to an upscale gym. When a heart attack prompts Vladimir to consider his will, Elena realizes that his money might go to his daughter from a previous marriage. Facing the prospect of having nothing to support her own son, Elena's subservience gives way to desperation as she confronts choosing her own family over the man she has married.

Tracing the class divide in contemporary Russia through this uneasy marriage, Zvyagintsev's third feature is an unsettling exploration of personal and social interactions conducted like murky financial transactions. Outstanding performances ground the film's larger themes in the affecting struggles of characters who feel true to life --and whose decisions are consequently all the more chilling. A score by Philip Glass accentuates the emotional tenor of the film, which features an excellent script and superb cinematography. With Elena, one of the most critically lauded titles of the year, Zvyagintsev has emerged as one of Russia's most important contemporary directors, fulfilling the promise of his debut The Return (2003), which took the top prize at the Venice Film Festival

• Category

  Film & Animation

[Sofia Martins]

I just found the soundtrack. It's from Philip Glass, Symphony #3.

[JPzyx]

About the spoilers - it's nopt a detective story, where each word, each movement means a lot. In this movie it's not important who does what. It's about how they live. When you watch the movie pay attention to what Katerina says when she comes to the hospital to her father - that's the main idea of the movie

[Elena Kelleher]

same my name is elena 2

where u frm

[johnnyex]

lol?



[brittanikenna]

my name's a movie-i like that

[christina anastasia skroutz]

boring =/

[Elena Kelleher]

my name elena

[ir2wicked]

lmao

[tripjet999]

Full of totally unnecessary use of the tobacco drug.

[alelumegghiu1]

ahahahahahahahahahahahahah

[Sofia Martins]

I would like to know the name of the soundtrack. I love it. If anyone knows, please tell me. Thank you.