2003: Vozvrashcheniye (The Return) (Best of the Noghties Lists and Suggestions #7)

Two boys meet their father for the first time for years after he has been away without explanation. When he takes them on a fishing trip, and his sons and the audience wonder about his past, it quickly turns out he's not your modern "let's discuss why you and I disagree" type of dad. Photographed with a heavy emphasis on the green-grey part of the colour spectrum, the film confirms westerners stereotypes of Russia as beautifully bleak. Though not too slow, this movie is not for you if you like yours moving at a breakneck pace, and it's not your Saturday night feelgood film either. Maybe most remindful of Jarmush's Dead Man, but set in contemporary Russia, shot in colour, and better. (7)