“Minotaur,” a stark depiction of Russia’s corruption under the Putin regime, received an eight-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday.
The film marks the return of Oscar-nominated writer Andrei Zvyagintsev to the Croisette, whose previous films Exile, Leviathan and Loveless were also screened at the Cannes Film Festival. As the applause continued to grow louder at the Théâtre Lumière, Zvyagintsev’s eyes glazed over as he was flanked by his stars, Dmitry Mazurov and Iris Lebedeva, who play a married couple whose marriage is shaken by infidelity and deceit. Boris Kudrin, who plays their teenage son Seryozha, was also in the audience, and at one point Mazurov ruffled Kudrin’s hair.
Director Zvyagintsev told the audience, “Thank you to the audience at the Lumière Theater for welcoming us so warmly and giving us the opportunity to make this film and share it with you.”
“Minotaur” follows a wealthy businessman, Gleb (Mazurov), as he tries to keep his company running smoothly as he continues to be pressured by authorities to provide a list of employees who can be drafted to provide food on the front lines of the war between Russia and Ukraine. At the same time, Galina (Levedeva) embarks on an intense affair that threatens to destroy the life Gleb has built. The film is inspired by Claude Chabrol’s “La femme infidèle,” which also served as the basis for Adrian Lyne’s “Unfaithful.” “Minotaur” was filmed in Latvia and also shot in Russia, as it takes a hard-hitting look at Putinism.
“Minotaur” marks Zvyagintsev’s return to filmmaking after almost a decade, during which he nearly died.
“I spent nearly a year in a clinic in Germany, where I was in a (medically induced) coma for 40 days before I was unable to stand up,” he told Variety. “When I left the clinic, I moved to France and decided to stay there. And I became more and more convinced that I should stay here. I have no desire, interest, or intention to live in a country that is at war with its neighbor.”
