There’s a new film coming from Russian master Andrey Zvyagintsev, called “Minotaur,” and it’s going to premiere at Cannes next month. MUBI just bought U.S. rights for the film, hoping it’ll land them their first Palme d’Or.
MUBI has a few other potential Cannes contenders on their slate, including Paweł Pawlikowski’s “1949/Fatherland,” Felix Van Groeningen’s “Let Love In,” Jane Schoenbrun’s “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” and Andrew Haigh’s “A Long Winter.”
Zvyagintsev recently shelved what was supposed to be his next project, “Jupiter,” and instead decided to shoot “Minotaur,” which wrapped in November. This sixth feature follows “Gleb,” a Russian entrepreneur on the verge of laying off his employees, who discovers that his wife is having an affair. The film is described as a “political fable” that blends “crime thriller with tragedy.”
Zvyagintsev hasn’t directed a film since 2017’s “Loveless” — another gem in a filmography that has become one of the very best in international cinema. A two-time Oscar nominee, known for his bleak, Russia-set cinema, he won the Venice Film Festival’s top prize in 2003 for “The Return” and the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize in 2017 for “Loveless.” His most acclaimed film remains 2014’s extraordinary “Leviathan.”
Yes, ‘Doomsday’ was shot without a finalized script. It was being written as production rolled on. The screenplay was still under development on set, with daily rewrites and updates in progress.