ANDREI ZVYAGINTSEV caught the attention of the world with his award-winning first feature The Return. His follow-up The Banishment offers another tale of pride and patriarchy illuminating the dark soul of the Russian male.

It is beautifully made but told with the kind of stifling solemnity that transforms the epic running time into something of an endurance test.

Based on a William Saroyan short story, the film focuses on Alex (Konstantin Lavronenko). Returning after a lengthy absence, he settles into an idyllic country home with his wife Vera (Maria Bonnevie) and their two children. He seems to be a man with a history of violence, drawn from a family predisposed to fracture and heartache.

The big moral dilemma arrives when Vera informs him she is pregnant and the child is not his. His reaction to this news sparks a chain of tragic consequences in a movie where the gorgeous cinematography and fantastic performances are the rewards for enduring the ponderous pace and often unfathomable storytelling.