Russian writer-director Andrey Zvyagintsev (Leviathan, Elena, Loveless) is back in the Cannes Film Festival competition this year. Loveless won the jury prize at the 2017 edition of the festival after Leviathan received the 2014 best screenplay award, and Elena was honored with the Un Certain Regard special jury prize in 2011.
So, of course, the latest movie from the two-time Oscar nominee, his first feature in close to a decade, is highly anticipated.
Minotaur, co-written with Semen Liashenko, has been shrouded in mystery, though. What is known about the film is that the now-exiled Zvyagintsev reunited for its creation with longtime collaborators, such as cinematographer Mikhail Krichman and production designer Andrey Ponkratov. The film is a co-production between France, Latvia and Germany. The producers are MK2 Films’ MK Productions, CG Cinéma and Zvyagintsev, in association with Leaf Entertainment. The co-producers are Razor Film in Germany and Forma Pro films in Latvia.
MK2 Films (Sentimental Value) is handling international sales. Mubi has acquired Minotaur for North America, the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria and Latin America.
The crime thriller is understood to also be a political and moral fable, as the title, which is a nod to Greek mythology, hints at. The minotaur was a monster, half man and half bull, that was imprisoned in a dark underground labyrinth.
The Cannes website only reveals the following about Minotaur: “Russia, 2022. When Gleb, a successful company director, finds himself under siege from mounting corporate pressures and an increasingly unstable world, the collapse of his carefully ordered life accelerates toward violence.”
Dmitriy Mazurov stars as Gleb opposite Iris Lebedeva as Galina. An exclusive clip from Minotaur that THR can now premiere takes us to their breakfast table. Does the sneak peek give you the sense that there is a certain awkwardness in the air? Could there be trouble brewing because of secrets that we, and Gleb, may not be privy to? Maybe it’s just us, but it feels like there is stuff that is left unsaid – even if not left untexted?
But make up your own mind! Watch the exclusive clip from Andrey Zvyagintsev‘s Minotaur below.
