It has been four years since Andrey Zvyagintsev was honoured with the Golden Lion at the Venice Festival for his first film, The Return. His second film, The Banishment, screening in Competition brings the Russian director to Cannes for the first time. This drama was more or less adapted from the novel by William Saroyan, The Laughing Matter, which tells of how a birth can upset an entire family. The director chose to work with the same “father” as seen in The Return, Konstantin Lavronenko. ...

It has been four years since Andrey Zvyagintsev was honoured with the Golden Lion at the Venice Festival for his first film, The Return. His second film, The Banishment, screening in Competition brings the Russian director to Cannes for the first time. This drama was more or less adapted from the novel by William Saroyan, The Laughing Matter, which tells of how a birth can upset an entire family. The director chose to work with the same “father” as seen in The Return, Konstantin Lavronenko.Q...