I wasn't that thrilled about "The Return", Zvyagintsev's first feature for a specific reason: people hailing him as "the new Tarkovsky", "Tarkovsky successor"....etc, but The Return wasn't a bad movie,
in fact it was a decent work, especially as a first work of his. Overall form over substance, but Zvyagintsev's problem is claiming more substance, trying too hard, polishing his narrative (though interesting: a father returns after a decade of unexplained to his young teens that don't remember him, and his wife) with heavy soundtracks and stunning imagery.
this is the first 10 mins (u can watch the whole thing in 10 parts on youtube)
Now unlike the Return, Banishment isn't even a good movie. After a promising start, the movie succumbs into such mediocrity that even for everybody who hailed Zvyagintsev, they have to face the fact he had a major problem here.
There's a big responsibility in comparisons (though people tend to give it out of pure excitement sometimes), before Zvyagintsev Sokurov was regarded as the new Tarkovsky; but after watching some of his works, it's obvious that -though he has something to say- he's far from Tarkovsky's philosophical depth. Tarkovsky isn't only about landscapes, slow-panning cameras, smoke, and water....
Zvyagintsev's Banishment doesn't really go beyond appearances. And having said that I wanted to use another word but I can't: PRETENTIOUS!!
It's not bad to be influenced by such master at all, but empty reproduction ends up harming more than helping. His camera ends up panning aimlessly and missing -clearly- the depth and grandeur of masters that used this technique before.
Another clear feature was his use of christian metaphors (blood washing, Churches, Leonardo's painting....), but again it wasn't convincing at all. It seemed that Zvyagintsev has all this in his baggage and just wanted to throw here and there.
Plot wise, a man (Alex) gets involved with gangsters and is obliged to take his wife and small kids to an isolated place, leaving their urban life behind will destabilize his relation with his wife. Zvyagintsev tries to go under the surface, to squeeze emotions, to build characters...and if he doesn't really fail, he doesn't do great also, and the already very artificial and distant drama features major flaws and unjustified missing elements from the narrative.
The sound track is also inspired from orthodox Christian chants, but naively gives away a lot of the drama since it only culminates in a cresendo mode right before a twist or an incident. For me this isn't the role of a soundtrack, it (if present) should add a different layer to the work instead of forcing attention.
As a summary, despite of some VERY RARE fine moments and one or two clever camera tricks (especially by the end of the movie) it's just an overtly polished movie.
I'm always very open minded towards new emerging directors, new hopes in the current cinema. Zvyagintsev's the Return was a good work, but the Banishment fails on many levels.
It would be wise for everybody to stop throwing comparisons and titles, and keep Tarkovsky where he belongs (with masters like Bergman, Antonioni, Dreyer..) thus leaving these new directors free from such frames hoping for them to achieve their own identity.
And regarding Zvyagintsev, only time and more works will tell us if Banishment was a misfire, or The Return was a beginner's luck (most likely the latter)
