The Return

In the film we watched, The Return, it has a very gloomy and dark atmosphere to it. No colors really come to mind other than black and white. This seems to center around the character of the father. I would characterize the father as a negative character. He doesn’t seem to like his kids that much, he always has an unpleasant demeanor about him and there seems to be something about his past that he wants to keep hidden and not talk about. It’s apparent he has been away from the family for a while and this seems to have a negative effect on his kids. Andrey, the oldest, doesn’t seem to hate his father but he is intimidated by him and does his best to impress him. Ivan, the younger brother, hates his father and does not do anything to hide it. He goes as far as to say he wants him dead and near the end threatens to kill him. The lack of the father throughout their lives has forced the brothers to rely on each other and this comes apparent when their father dies. Since they haven’t really had a father figure most of their lives the boys don’t seem to be shaken by their father’s death as if they were almost expecting it or simply were used to the idea of no father.