If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Fantastic!

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

109 minutes isn't that long for a movie, unless it's edited like this one. At the 20 minute mark, I felt like I had been watching for an hour. Some scenes are so still that they seem like photographs. I was watching it streaming on Amazon Instant Video and at least once I thought the movie had stopped. No detail is too trivial for the filmmaker to include, whether it's housework or smalltalk. Do you have to show someone's boring life this boringly to show that it's boring? OK, I'm convinced. Too much atmosphere, disenchantment and ennui, not enough story. I was hoping for a post-Soviet noir thriller. There is a plot here but, like a pair of Levi's in the USSR, you'll pay a high price for it.

It would not be an understatement at all if some knowledgeable film critics were to state that Russians are the world's best filmmakers in contemporary times. The current crop of Russian films have not only managed to convey valuable messages about life and its significance but have also been successful in entertaining astute audiences all over the world. "Elena" is a brilliant example of an ethical film with a message. In many ways, it has already been hailed as one of Andrei Zvyagintsev's most accessible films. It is a film which is absolutely devoid of symbolism with which one would normally associate most films made by Zvyagintsev. Elena succeeds as it is an honest film about how money and the acquisition of money has influenced the way Russian society looks at life. A fine balance has been struck as this film shows two aspects of modern Russia : on the one hand, a Russia where a certain section of rich people live in beautiful houses and enjoy all the best facilities to maintain a good lifestyle. On the other hand, there is a different facet of a troubled Russia where alcoholism and bad housing conditions have made life miserable for poor denizens. How does one fit in today's affluent Russia of two extremes where not having money was a colossal problem in the past and having more money has also become a major modern problem ? This is an apt description which can be attached to Russian film "Elena". Although slow in parts, Elena gains momentum in the later part of second half which is the most crucial segment of the film in terms of action. However, the beauty of this film lies in the manner some of life's challenging questions related to economic well being of ordinary people have been asked. It is for finding answers to such questions that Elena must be watched by anybody interested in the manner in which financial health of a person influences his/her personal health.

This is one of the most perfect, "round", films I have seen in many years. Nothing is out of place, every scene has a deep meaning in the plot. And the overall result is nearly perfect, with a clear-cut conclusion.Many have understood this film as a criticism/description of current Russian society. And they are not mistaken at all, it is true. But there is more to it, much more: a universal trait, one that I have never seen depicted previously on film with such precision and cleverness. The central topic of the film can be enunciated by the saying "Blood is thicker than water". Some previous reviewers have aptly pointed out this too.The plot is entirely constructed to come to this final conclusion. In the meantime we are also shown aspects of current Russian society, such as violence and lack of values in adolescents, strained family relations between the old and new Russian generations (with marked differences in life values), the lavish but often solitary life of old men who have amassed large amounts of money...But the central point is the relation of Elena with, on the one hand, her aged affluent husband, who provides her with a very comfortable life that most women her age would be delighted and satisfied with, and on the other hand with her son (and son's family) from a previous marriage, her "real" family in terms of blood ties. Her son is an absolute opposite to her husband: mediocrity vs. intelligence, weak character vs. determination and strength, idleness vs. diligence, failure vs. success, poverty vs. richness. One can easily come to the conclusion that her son fully deserves the misery he and his family live in. Elena helps her son and daughter-in-law on her husband's resources, but when he says "enough!"... conflict ensues, and here is when blood imposes its biological determining force.The final scene of the film, with the little grandson of Elena lying carelessly and comfortably on her husband's bed is at once tender and haunting! one of the best ends I've ever seen in cinema. Now join the opening scene with the final one, and you close the circle, the whole film is contained there.Don't miss it, this is a film you will not forget. It will become a classic, for me it is one of them already. The best Zvyagintsev's film so far, The Return and Leviathan being both highly recommended too.

A rich older man Vladamir married to a middle aged woman Elena has a heart attack and reveals he is going to leave everything to his unsympathetic daughter. He has refused to help Elena's family. Elena alters fate in her favor.In a movie like this character development is everything and the actors in this movie carry it off flawlessly. Vladamir and Elena are both very believable. Elena is not only believable but a sympathetic character and you are glad she does what she does.If a movies success is measured by is the plot believable and do you care about the characters and will you remember them...this movie succeeds beautifully. In addition the whole atmosphere was spot on. I can still picture Elena's sort of worthless son and his family enjoying the luxuries of the new apartment.RECOMMEND