the title's curse

The Return is epic, Tarkovski-esque, baffling, deeply frustrating. It's blessed by two child performances which it's unlikely have been bettered. By anyone. The film ends on an island on a lake. The lake has sandy beaches, pine trees, rainstorms, big skies, wildflowers. The denoument is dramatic yet perplexing, in honour of its influences.

The first-time director, Aleksandr Novototsky won the directing Grand Prix at Venice. Tarkovski himself won the same prize for Ivan's Childhood, his first film. One of the boys is called Ivan. The other is called Andrey. In the original script one of the boys drowned in the lake. At the last minute, the director changed this ending.

Sometime later one of the child actors, Vladimir Garin, returned to Ladozhohskye lake, scene of his triumphant debut. He went swimming in the fine blue water, something he never does in the film itself. In that lake, Vladimir Garin succumbed to the fate his fictional character was denied.