The Banishment

2007 ‘Изгнание’ Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev

If you want to kill, kill. If you want to forgive, forgive.

After receiving an unexpected visit from his mysteriously injured brother Mark, Alex decides to take his family back to the country home of his childhood, but once there, Alex's wife Vera confesses that she is pregnant again and that the child is not his. Agony ensues as Alex attempts to figure out how best to react.

Konstantin Lavronenko Aleksandr Baluev Maria Bonnevie Dmitri Ulyanov Vitaly Kishchenko Maksim Shibayev Alexey Vertkov Igor Sergeev Yekaterina Kulkina Ira Gonto Svetlana Kashelkina Yaroslava Nikolaeva Elizabet Dantsinger

Alternative Titles

Izgnanie, De Verbanning, Le Bannissement, Η εξορία

drama

157 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Nick ★★★½

The Banishment incorporates Andrey Zvyagintsev's forte of stormy family drama, with breathtaking visuals that are immediately reminiscent of Tarkovsky classics.
Chronicling a twisty marriage story, The Banishment is a patient movie, with lengthy buildup to the final reveal that's only moderately startling. What's most impressive about this movie is definitely Konstantin Lavronenko's extremely reserved, yet ultimately mesmerizing performance, which earned him a surprising best actor win at the Cannes Film Festival. His performance to me carries the whole project forward, ironing over every moment that overstays its welcome.
The Banishment however is definitely not an easy breeze to sit through, unlike other entries of Zvyagintsev's filmography. A family drama at face value, The Banishment is obviously much more than what…
Review by Robert Beksinski ★★★★ 2

The Banishment is the film that is most obvious in Andrey Zvyagintsev detailing his influence and paying homage to fellow Russian and one of the greatest directors of all time Andrei Tarkovsky. There is even a scene inserted midway into the second half of the film that is a mobile tracking shot staring down at the ground that is identical to the way Tarkovsky achieved the same effect in Stalker (not to mention, during this shot the unique weather changes, the barriers the camera has to go through and that final stopping point of the house in the reflection of the water before the rain begins again). Tarkovsky visuals abound but other than that Zvyagintsev adds his own spin to…
Review by Larry ★★★½ 3

Love suffereth long, and is kind
Andrey Zvyagintsev's sophomore feature The Banishment is an exceptional piece of filmmaking deviating for a more atmospheric storytelling than his usual dissection on societal maladies. With some bravura performances, richly picturesque cinematography and moving at an achingly slow pace, Zvyagintsev's familial melodrama pivots on a fragile marriage, a depressing but moving portrait of loveless lovers and the young ones who inherit it. However, despite it's layered plot and flawless technical aspects, The Banishment is a film that teeters on the viewers patience, ultimately deciding whether it's a rewarding watch or a disorienting mash of unexplored ideas and unexplained plotlines.
The movie opens up to a slow, elegant sideways dolly shot on an almond tree…
Review by Jonathan White ★★★★½ 2

Lise and Jonnie's 30 Countries 2019
Film#13 - Russia

When Lise settled on Russia as her featured country for March Around the World this year, I sheepishly ( because TIFF picks of mine in the past have gone awry ) asked if our Feature Country pick could be the only film we haven’t seen from modern Russian master, and Duke of Despair, Andrey Zvyagintsev. My thinking was that seeing this was his sophomore effort, and The Return wasn’t nearly as crushing as his later films, that we might be able to get through it without wanting to slit our wrists.
As many following this years challenge know, Lise has been felled with back issues, so I took on this particular…
Review by Jason Huang (黃擎元) ★★½ 2

I don't think this film earned its runtime. Truthfully, I'm a bit disappointed. This was a bit too detached to truly click with me, because in theory, this is such an interesting story. I feel like it could have been a really emotional story about how men fail the women in their life. But this kind of emotional detachment just doesn't work for the themes the film was exploring, at least in my opinion.
I was honestly expecting great things in the beginning. The first shot was beautiful. The intro with Alex digging the bullet out of his brother's arm was a really great start, but it just kept dragging and dragging. I just don't think I got the emotional weight Zvyagintsev had intended. Overall, it's still a beautiful-looking film though, and some shots of water definitely reminded me of Tarkovsky films. Definitely my least favorite of this director's filmography.
Review by RasmusS ★★★★½ 6

This hits basically every note I wanted. It brings together many of the aspects in The Return but expands the baseline and loses some of the mysterious symbolism. Not that there isn’t any but I think this is more basic storytelling with some structural flair and ambiguity in the characters rather than themes (at least I think, you can’t be sure with this guy after one viewing. Edit: after reading just few reviews there seems to be a ton of stuff under the surface.) And I’m a fan of that style, films that aren’t afraid to take their time, leave something in the dark but provide a simplistic story with hard hitting fates. The performances are just brilliant and it…
Review by Catus ★★★★ 2

This is the closest thing we’ve gotten to a XXI century Tarkovsky movie. Andrey Zvyagintsev is officially one of my favorite directors now, and I encourage everyone to explore his filmography (please).
Review by Hutch ★★★★½ 6

Andrey Zvyagintsev is one of my favourite directors. I loved his debut, The Return, but until now I’ve held off seeing his follow up, The Banishment, because of its mixed critical reception. I needn’t have worried. This is another of his formally controlled and austere films about a severe and controlling man who brings about tragedy through his inability to be gentle and kind to his family. The film is slow, grim and pessimistic. It holds details back from its plot to focus on the characters and to build a suffocating atmosphere. And then, through powerfully understated reveals, it gradually explains the secrets and lies that underpin its terrible tragedy.
The Banishment’s austerity resembles Zvyagintsev’s later film, Loveless. But it…
Review by Gui ★★★★ 3

Considered Andrey Zvyagintsev’s least successful film, The Banishment is a complex exercise in religious metaphors and one that compromises usual narrative components to achieve that symbolic nature, which renders the film a very complex, perplexing and even distancing feel. Despite its superb execution though, I agree it is the director’s least accomplished work, partly because of the relevance of its message but mainly due to the impenetrable and often too theoretical approach it conceives.
As the film begins we are presented with a sort of metaphor for the History of Humanity, with its traditional division of time into four periods, as a car drives through the road of history itself. Firstly, the car passes by a giant tree, the tree…
Review by ∀ Digzy ★★★★½

A devastating substantial filmpiece, left me shattered in piece.
Has Zvyagintsev ever made a bad movie?
Review by EnteredTheVoid ★★★★ 1

Okay, yeah, so even more proof that Tarkovsky and Zvyagintsev are the same person. I think Andrey is Andrei's reincarnation, even though their lifetimes overlap, i don't care what anyone says it's the truth.
Some (most) of the shots in this are lifted right out of Tarkovsky's work. Some of the best homages I've seen to the great director or to any director. If you liked Solaris, Stalker, Mirror, The Sacrifice, then see this. Not similar in themes and plot but in style and look. Just wow.
Review by Estéban Rōdriguez ★★★★½

Another absolutely incredible movie by an absolutely incredible filmmaker. I can’t tell you how close Zvyaginsev is at taking the title of my favorite filmmaker at this point. He is an absolute master at visual storytelling to where after seeing this movie once I can still remember dozens of shots from this 157 minute behemoth of a film. There are moments in this movie that had left me completely floored. He really knows how to convey information in such a creative way. And The Banishment is just another work of awesomeness with him. Every actor is incredible. The music is nothing short of entrancing. Besides the final shot that went on a little bit too long for my tastes everything else is fucking perfect. It can be a bit depressing so be weary of that but other wise this is an absolute masterwork of a film that I would recommend.

Recent reviews

Review by Brundlemax ★★★★

Kajak Tagebucheintrag #9
Schweigen und Kälte werden zum Kreislauf, der das Verstehen verhindert. Ohne Stimme, ohne Laut wandert es weiter und weiter. Und erst, wenn der letzte Mann das Schloss verlässt, kehrt die Erinnerung zurück - und mit ihr Unschuld, Schönheit und Magie. Und ebenso magisch wie still wäscht sie alle Sünde fort, sodass der Ort wieder Erinnerung ist.
Review by Abinash Mohanty ★★★½

This is known as Andrey Zvyagintsev's worst film and I definitely agree even though I have not seen Elena(2011). That being said it's an well made film with with eye calming cinematography and sound track. The plot of the movie is really awesome.
The movie is extremely slow which matches the tone of the movie. The problem is it's 3rd act.
There are some death scenes. But one of the character's death was rushed. The twist of the movie is good but not that strong.
The movie is about two characters having poor communication. So I don't know whether I should blame the twist.
The movie has intresting colour palette and they are very distinct based on the characters.
3.5/5
Review by ∀ Digzy ★★★★½

A devastating substantial filmpiece, left me shattered in piece.
Has Zvyagintsev ever made a bad movie?
Review by DM88 ★★★½

Su narrativa no está a la altura de la excelente puesta en escena. Imágenes memorables, pulsión débil.
Review by Brad ★★★★

perhaps the most dense of all zvyagintsevs work. a contemporaneous allegory of the fall of man with some stunning photography and some of the best direct homages to tarkovsky i can recall.
Review by Shelby ✈ ★★★

a little more formalistic than the return, and better for it. unfortunately this one is still a little too detached for my liking, it doesn’t pack the emotional punch of loveless or leviathan. it is very nice to look at though, and the score has a cool doom-folk vibe.
Review by pedrinhograna ★★★★

Masterpiece
Review by Vincent ½

C'est quand que ça commence ? c'est quand qu'on arrive ?
Review by conorbrady

Ruled! Loved the musical motif, set the tone so well.
Review by Estéban Rōdriguez ★★★★½

Another absolutely incredible movie by an absolutely incredible filmmaker. I can’t tell you how close Zvyaginsev is at taking the title of my favorite filmmaker at this point. He is an absolute master at visual storytelling to where after seeing this movie once I can still remember dozens of shots from this 157 minute behemoth of a film. There are moments in this movie that had left me completely floored. He really knows how to convey information in such a creative way. And The Banishment is just another work of awesomeness with him. Every actor is incredible. The music is nothing short of entrancing. Besides the final shot that went on a little bit too long for my tastes everything else is fucking perfect. It can be a bit depressing so be weary of that but other wise this is an absolute masterwork of a film that I would recommend.
Review by Faten_sh ★★★★★

زفياجينتسيف العظيم، الحالة الي يتركها في عقل المشاهد بعد أفلامه، شيء استثنائي.
Review by Catus ★★★★ 2

This is the closest thing we’ve gotten to a XXI century Tarkovsky movie. Andrey Zvyagintsev is officially one of my favorite directors now, and I encourage everyone to explore his filmography (please).