Minotaur (EN)

In Russia, 2022, Gleb, a successful company director, tries to balance his professional and private life as the pressure at work continues to mount and the world around him changes. When tensions also begin to rise at home, he finds it increasingly difficult to keep his carefully constructed life under control. Slowly, everything begins to fall apart, forcing Gleb to push further and further beyond his own limits.

Minotaur is the new film by Andrey Zvyagintsev, one of the most acclaimed Russian filmmakers of his generation. With his debut The Return, he won the prestigious Golden Lion at Venice in 2003. Both Leviathan and Loveless were also honoured at Cannes and received Oscar nominations. After Loveless in 2017, his film career came to a standstill. In 2021, Zvyagintsev became seriously ill with COVID-19 and was in critical condition for a long time, making it uncertain whether he would ever make another film. Now, nine years later, he returns with Minotaur, which immediately won the Grand Prix at Cannes, the festival’s second-most prestigious award. The film was also widely praised by the international film press.

On Thursday, 22 October, writer and literary critic Lidewijde Paris will take you into the world of Minotaur. Before the screening, she will offer a number of viewing pointers, after which she will explore the film’s meanings, metaphors and hidden layers with the audience. Drawing on literary techniques and examples from well-known novels, she will show how imagery, dialogue and camerawork shape the story and guide our emotions.

“Substantial, clear-sighted, magnificently acted and shot.”
★★★★★ — The Guardian

“He may just be the greatest Russian filmmaker since Tarkovsky, and he’s definitely the ballsiest.”
★★★★ — Time Out

“A masterful crime thriller” and “a bold indictment of Russia’s war against Ukraine.”
— The Hollywood Reporter