LOVELESS (Nelyubov) MAST D: Andrey Zvyagintsev. Russia/France/Belgium/Germany. 127 min. Sep 7, 9 pm, Winter Garden Sep 8 12:30 pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox 2. Rating: NNNN
In Zvyagintsev’s resonant, incisive Cannes prizewinner (runner-up to The Square), a couple in the final stages of a bitter divorce are so self-absorbed they fail to immediately notice that their 12-year-old son has gone missing.
Rarely has a film’s title been so apt and precise. Influenced by Bergman’s Scenes From A Marriage and just as compelling, this acutely observed depiction of a broken relationship is a stark portrait of the primacy of self-advancement and material well-being at the expense of familial responsibility.
And then Zvyagintsev broadens his canvas to indict the Russian political state itself – all without missing a beat.
