Koktebel

This is a road movie of the most mysterious sort. Koktebel – a resort town in the Crimea – is the holy grail for a father (Igor Chernevich) and his young son (Gleb Puskepalis), whom we first encounter wandering along a remote, rural road. ‘Are we going to walk all the way?’ asks the little boy. ‘No – we’re going to take a taxi,’ replies his dad sardonically, hinting at the quiet, often unspoken and restrained drama that will unfold here.
It’s hard not to compare ‘Koktebel’ to ‘The Return’, one of the year’s best films. They’re both Russian, of course, but both also explore a fragile father-son relationship that is clearly informed by past events of which we know (and discover) very little. There’s the same careful attention to the visual here too. The camera is calm, often static, and the emphasis is on lyrical and smart composition as much as human drama. Not that the writing and performances are in any way slight: small moments of interaction (the son revealing a fear that his father will get drunk; his jealousy when he meets a woman) speak volumes. Quiet and intelligent.