The film is complex and unpacks what might be comfortable moral certainties. Nadezha plays the Elena of the title who has to decide whether she will murder her husband to help her son.
Her second husband, ten years her senior, is man of means and Elena leads a comfortable life if a little sterile. Elena’s son from her first marriage has a wife and children but little to support them and requires help from Elena and her husband.
Her husband Vladimir has a daughter with whom he has a prickly relationship – Elena works at healing the rift between them but her good work has unintended consequences as after a life changing heart attack results in Vladimir deciding to change his will in his daughters favour.
Elena is now faced with the prospect of life without her husband and cut off from his money and as a result faced with a moral choice as to whether she should do the unthinkable in order to support her grandchildren or do nothing and watch them suffer..
Nadezhda admits to being ambivalent about her character the complexity of the role makes her sympathetic to Elenas plight but she admits that part of her would want Elena caught feeling that the film highlights issues we should be working harder to deal with because we are destroying what we hold dear by allowing ourselves to drift down the easy roads.
This is an ambitious film which delivers a lot of what It sets out to and would be nice if Nadezhda picked up the award for a part well played. However she is up against Kirsten Dunst for her part in Melancholia so we are not hopeful.
CM
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