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Review: The Banishment (Изгнание) (2007)
I have been making my way through Andrey Zvyagintsev's movies. Out of his filmography so far, I have watched Loveless, Leviathan, and the Return, but I think that the Banishment was the weakest one of those movies.
I felt that the story was a bit lacking compared to Zvyaginstev's other movies. But I don't think this was a bad movie. I just think that the story was a lot more insulated than his other movies. It was more focused on a single relationship as opposed to a number of different issues.
Spoilers.
Story
When this movie started, I thought it was going to be one huge Biblical allegory for Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. The family was isolated in a country home. In particular, the daughter Eva refusing an apple was what made me think that maybe this was going to be important later on, but I guess I was just overthinking things.
Anyway, this story was about the struggling relationship between a married couple, Alex and Vera. The thing about this movie was that there wasn't a whole lot of dialogue, and the characters didn't do a lot of things, so I felt like I could only make so many interpretations of how I felt about the characters.
My interpretation of the story was as follows. Vera felt that she and Alex were drifting apart, and she was worried that she'd be bringing another child into a loveless marriage. As for why she lied to Alex about the parentage of her baby, perhaps it was a cry for help, or perhaps it was her trying to take a stance.
Vera explained to Robert that her children with Alex were theirs, but not really theirs. How I interpreted that was that they parented them, but somewhat separately. Each of Vera and Alex would take them places to have fun and care for them, but they never really did it together. In addition, Vera worried that Kir would follow in Alex and Mark's footsteps and engage in criminal business, but it seemed like that was totally out of her control, that it was Alex who called the shots.
After Vera told Alex that the baby wasn't hers, he stormed off. I wonder why she didn't correct him. Perhaps she wanted to get a rise out of him to confirm whether he cared.
Anyway, Alex was quite angry. Despite him acting like a good father at times, he could be violent and hateful at times. He was very violent and hateful towards Vera. On his own, he decided that Vera would have an abortion, and that they would start over.
We didn't see much of Vera for the rest of the movie. From the time of the abortion onward, she was mostly shown off screen. But it was implied that she accepted her fate, going along with the abortion agreeably even though it was painful. And the doctor determined that she had overdosed on pain medication purposely.
Alex's behaviour overall did seem a bit selfish. When Vera was comatose, he apologized and asked her not to make him feel worse (based on the subtitles). Is that something you say to someone who is on the brink of death? Hm. After she died, Alex had a very quick funeral because gossip was spreading among the neighbours in the countryside. This struck me as kind of selfish. I think Alex was more trying to absolve himself and draw attention away from himself, more than he was actually sorry for forcing Vera to have an abortion and leading her to her death.
Soon after her death, Alex's brother Mark had a heart attack and died soon afterwards. I was trying to understand whether there was any meaning behind this death, or whether it was a plot device so that Alex would Vera's pregnancy letter.
Alex confronted Robert, the man he thought that Vera had an affair with, but it's implied that he found out about the truth. That the time Robert was in their home, was to save Vera from a suicide attempt, and that they had never had an affair. Does Alex learn anything from this? I'm not certain that he does. I think that perhaps he feels guilty for causing his wife's death and how that will look for him, but I have yet to believe that he understands why his wife was feeling so neglected.
What is the eponymous banishment referring to? Perhaps Vera was banished from Alex's heart, and that she would never return. I think from Vera's point of view, if Alex accepted this child, maybe she would still have some hope that he still loved her for her, and not because he's checking the boxes to make sure he fulfills the responsibilities of a husband. I'm not saying that I agree with Vera's point of view, but that's what I think that she was thinking.
Production
I think what popped out to me the most was the cinematography. The way that the surroundings filled the frame made the space look so big and distant, whether it was within the old country home, or outside in the countryside. This worked well to enhance the distant relationship between Alex and Vera.
The dialogue was pretty minimalistic. It was only there to show what information was being communicated between characters. But I didn't dislike it. It contributed well to the feel of the movie.
Characters
Alexander
Alex was the husband in this loveless marriage. He was implied to have come from a criminal background, and was taking his family to a home in the countryside.
When he found out about his wife's infidelity, he was reasonably angry, but he was also violent and aggressive. There was a conversation between Kir and Flora talking about why their parents hit each other or yell at each other, and they concluded that they didn't know why they did that. Why did Alex hit Vera? Obviously it was because he was angry. But did he have to do that? No. Also, she was a pregnant woman.
Alex questioned Vera about what she was going to do with the baby, but she didn't really have an answer. And frustrated with her lack of answer, Alex came to his own decision that Vera would have an abortion, and they would try to reignite their love.
When Vera was comatose, Alex came in to talk to her. I wonder whether Alex knew that Vera had overdosed on the pills or not. He had asked her to stop making him feel worse. Was that because he knew, or was truly just him being self-absorbed?
Let me take a moment to talk about Alex and Mark's relationship. They are definitely closer to each other than anybody else. When Alex first brought up the affair to Mark, Alex told him that he would have to kill Vera. What did Mark think of that? Was Alex serious at the time? As well, Mark and Alex were both involved in criminal activities, so in addition to being brothers, they'd probably built this sort of comraderie that comes with fighting alongside one another and keeping each other's secrets.
Vera died, and Alex wanted the funeral to be done as quickly as possible to avoid the gossip growing even bigger than it already was. Like I said, this felt disrespectful to Vera. Her own children couldn't even attend her funeral.
Mark had had his heart attack earlier in the day but had insisted on going to the funeral, and died on the way back. Why? Did Mark think that Alex needed the support? Or did Alex just think that Mark would've been good with the logistics of it all in case Alex might've found himself more emotional than he expected at the funeral?
Alex gave money to the doctor to handle Mark's death, which I guess would've included the funeral. My guess was that though Alex and Mark were close, Alex needed to leave right away to avoid more gossip (though his kids were still staying at Viktor's house so he'd have to go back to the country to pick them up anyway).
Alex's plan was to confront Robert, the man he thought Vera had an affair with. When he visited Robert, he brought the pregnancy test letter and a gun, but things did not turn out the way he thought they would. The pregnancy test would've told him that the baby was his, and Robert would've told him that Vera was suicidal. Though Robert would've had no proof, I don't think that was important.
What were Alex's thoughts on the revelations? The optimistic answer would be that Alex felt remorse at not noticing the signs that his wife was feeling neglected and in need of affection. The pessimistic answer would be that Alex feels even guiltier that he killed his wife for an affair she did not have. We know that he was already feeling immense guilt, but now knowing that she wasn't even guilty of what he thought she was guilty of makes him feel even more burdened.
It's hard to say whether his relationship with his kids will get better. Though he took them to play and have fun, it's hard to say he showed them affection like Vera did. Like Vera said, he loved his wife and kids for his own sake, to prove to the world that he was a good husband and father, and not necessarily because he loved them as people.
Vera
At the end of the movie, it was revealed that Vera was suicidal, and had been feeling neglected by Alex for a while now. She had attempted suicide once, but was saved by Robert.
I think that when Vera found out she was pregnant, she would use this opportunity to test their relationship one more time. (This is totally just a theory, by the way. As I mentioned, I don't think we saw the characters doing very many things, so I don't feel that I have a good grasp on them.) I think that Vera purposely gave Alex a non-answer on what she would do with the baby so that she could see what Alex would want to do. If Alex had agreed to take care of the baby even though he thought it wasn't his, I think that she would've given their relationship one more shot. If Alex decided to take care of the baby, I think that would've been a sign to Vera that he loved her for her, and not because she was a placeholder for the role of his wife.
But one of the first things that Alex told Vera was that he didn't care about the baby at all, which basically told Vera her answer. Alex expected fidelity in their relationship, not because he was fully devoted to Vera and loved her, but because that is what people in a marriage do.
From then on, Vera let Alex do whatever he wanted, going ahead with the abortion. Vera later then overdosed on the painkillers.
To Vera, there really was no other option. I think she was also frightened of Alex and Mark's criminal background, so there was absolutely no chance of divorce or running away. Though Mark was completely detached from his family, I think Vera couldn't take the kids with her and go away, because she doesn't even feel an attachment to the kids that she thinks she should have.
While Vera cared for the kids the best she could, the fact that they weren't children of love between Alex and her probably hurt her. Every time she looked at her kids, I think she was reminded that Alex didn't love her the way she wanted him to.
Kir
Kir was the older child of Alex and Vera. He wasn't firmly on team mom or team dad, and we saw that he did love them in his own ways, I think. He liked spending time with his dad, which is reasonable for little boys who want a male role model in their lives. However, he was also mad at him for hitting his mom. So though Kir might not have really expressed it, he did bond with his parents, but the key here is that he bonded them in different ways, and not together. I think he rarely spent time with both of his parents unless they were just travelling.
It was Kir who revealed to Alex that Robert had come to their house one time, but it was Alex who had jumped to conclusions that Robert was Vera's affair partner.
Eva
Eva was the main reason I thought this movie was going to be a Biblical allegory about the Garden of Eden. Man, it would've been so cool if it was. I love movies that have heavy Biblical undertones even though I'm not devoutly religious lol.
At the beginning of the movie, Eva had a small spat with her mother. Basically she just didn't want to be called by her pet name "Bunny." Vera went out of the room to cry, but in hindsight, I'm not sure whether she was crying because Eva was defying her or otherwise. In any case, Eva went outside to apologize and they hugged it out. Alex came out to ask what was the matter and Vera said nothing was the matter and Alex just went back in, which kind of showed that Alex really did take things at face value. Vera was crying and Eva was hugging her but because Vera said she was alright, she must be, right?
It seemed to me that Alex did more things with Kir than Eva, but I wonder whether it was just a traditional son vs. daughter thing. As in, Alex thought it was his responsibility to make his son into a man, and it was his wife's responsibility to make his daughter into a woman. Otherwise, he did take Eva out to play as well.
Mark
Mark was Alex's brother. They were very close, probably because they carried out criminal activities together and trusted each other a lot. They also protected each other.
When Mark found out that Vera's baby was Alex's, he told the doctor that he wouldn't tell Alex. Otherwise, Alex would probably feel immense guilt. But he still placed the letter in the glove box of Alex's car. Why did he do that? Did he decide that he wanted Alex to confront the truth? Or had he intended to take it back but had died before being able to do so?
Mark went with Alex to Vera's funeral. Apparently he had insisted doing so despite having had a heart attack earlier, and he did end up dying after the funeral.
When Mark died, Alex simply left money for the doctor to handle his death. I thought that Alex and Mark were close, so this was surprising. Or is it because Alex's idea of love simply means checking a box. Did he think that leaving money to fund Mark's funeral was enough to show his love?
Doctor
I did get creepy vibes from the doctor for some reason. I just felt that he was up to no good. But perhaps that was just because he was used to working with criminals. The doctor was also responsible for revealing a lot of the factual information in the movie.
Afer Mark died, Alex left him some money to take care of Mark's death, which included having him be taken to the morgue. Afterwards, we saw the doctor closing up the country home again, reverting the country home to a state that it was like before.
Robert
Robert was a friend of Alex and Mark's, and he'd helped Vera when she was suicidal. It turns out Robert was NOT the father and NOT an asshole, it was just Alex jumping to conclusions, and Alex was the asshole all along.
Flora
Flora was one of Viktor's daughters that Kir seemed to have been the closest with. During hide and seek, Flora ran far away because she didn't want to play, and Kir and Flora had a chat about why they liked being alone.
Later on, Kir also called Flora to talk. But overall, I think Kir and Eva were close with all of Viktor's kids, Fayna, Frida, and Flora.
Themes
Country Home
I think the country home served some more visual motifs. As I mentioned, a lot of the time, the space was shot to look very wide, this was even the case within the country home. Rooms would look very wide, leaving a very empty space in the middle. Like I said, it matched the empty and desolate tone of the movie, reflecting Vera's feelings that she was trapped in a world without love.
At the end of the movie, the doctor boarded up the country home back up as if nothing had happened. If it was up to Alex, I think he would act like nothing happened in front of the kids. If the kids questioned him about their mom, I think he would give them a non-answer.
Gender Roles
As mentioned, Alex seemed to care for Vera, Kir, and Eva in the way that he felt fathers should take care of their family, not necessarily because he loved them as people. He definitely didn't show Vera the care and attention she needed, as she was literally suicidal and he had no idea.
Overall
Like most movies, I had to write my review to start appreciating it more lol. But in this case, it was because I felt that a lot of the characters thoughts and motivations were not explicitly stated and so I had to think it out in order to appreciate the message of the story. And knowing me, I might develop more thoughts about this movie later on as more time passes.
Like I said, I don't think this is a bad movie, just not one of my favourites of Zvyagintsev's. I'd still recommend it, but after the other of his movies.
I felt that the story was a bit lacking compared to Zvyaginstev's other movies. But I don't think this was a bad movie. I just think that the story was a lot more insulated than his other movies. It was more focused on a single relationship as opposed to a number of different issues.
Spoilers.
Story
When this movie started, I thought it was going to be one huge Biblical allegory for Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. The family was isolated in a country home. In particular, the daughter Eva refusing an apple was what made me think that maybe this was going to be important later on, but I guess I was just overthinking things.
Anyway, this story was about the struggling relationship between a married couple, Alex and Vera. The thing about this movie was that there wasn't a whole lot of dialogue, and the characters didn't do a lot of things, so I felt like I could only make so many interpretations of how I felt about the characters.
My interpretation of the story was as follows. Vera felt that she and Alex were drifting apart, and she was worried that she'd be bringing another child into a loveless marriage. As for why she lied to Alex about the parentage of her baby, perhaps it was a cry for help, or perhaps it was her trying to take a stance.
Vera explained to Robert that her children with Alex were theirs, but not really theirs. How I interpreted that was that they parented them, but somewhat separately. Each of Vera and Alex would take them places to have fun and care for them, but they never really did it together. In addition, Vera worried that Kir would follow in Alex and Mark's footsteps and engage in criminal business, but it seemed like that was totally out of her control, that it was Alex who called the shots.
After Vera told Alex that the baby wasn't hers, he stormed off. I wonder why she didn't correct him. Perhaps she wanted to get a rise out of him to confirm whether he cared.
Anyway, Alex was quite angry. Despite him acting like a good father at times, he could be violent and hateful at times. He was very violent and hateful towards Vera. On his own, he decided that Vera would have an abortion, and that they would start over.
We didn't see much of Vera for the rest of the movie. From the time of the abortion onward, she was mostly shown off screen. But it was implied that she accepted her fate, going along with the abortion agreeably even though it was painful. And the doctor determined that she had overdosed on pain medication purposely.
Alex's behaviour overall did seem a bit selfish. When Vera was comatose, he apologized and asked her not to make him feel worse (based on the subtitles). Is that something you say to someone who is on the brink of death? Hm. After she died, Alex had a very quick funeral because gossip was spreading among the neighbours in the countryside. This struck me as kind of selfish. I think Alex was more trying to absolve himself and draw attention away from himself, more than he was actually sorry for forcing Vera to have an abortion and leading her to her death.
Soon after her death, Alex's brother Mark had a heart attack and died soon afterwards. I was trying to understand whether there was any meaning behind this death, or whether it was a plot device so that Alex would Vera's pregnancy letter.
Alex confronted Robert, the man he thought that Vera had an affair with, but it's implied that he found out about the truth. That the time Robert was in their home, was to save Vera from a suicide attempt, and that they had never had an affair. Does Alex learn anything from this? I'm not certain that he does. I think that perhaps he feels guilty for causing his wife's death and how that will look for him, but I have yet to believe that he understands why his wife was feeling so neglected.
What is the eponymous banishment referring to? Perhaps Vera was banished from Alex's heart, and that she would never return. I think from Vera's point of view, if Alex accepted this child, maybe she would still have some hope that he still loved her for her, and not because he's checking the boxes to make sure he fulfills the responsibilities of a husband. I'm not saying that I agree with Vera's point of view, but that's what I think that she was thinking.
Production
I think what popped out to me the most was the cinematography. The way that the surroundings filled the frame made the space look so big and distant, whether it was within the old country home, or outside in the countryside. This worked well to enhance the distant relationship between Alex and Vera.
The dialogue was pretty minimalistic. It was only there to show what information was being communicated between characters. But I didn't dislike it. It contributed well to the feel of the movie.
Characters
Alexander
Alex was the husband in this loveless marriage. He was implied to have come from a criminal background, and was taking his family to a home in the countryside.
When he found out about his wife's infidelity, he was reasonably angry, but he was also violent and aggressive. There was a conversation between Kir and Flora talking about why their parents hit each other or yell at each other, and they concluded that they didn't know why they did that. Why did Alex hit Vera? Obviously it was because he was angry. But did he have to do that? No. Also, she was a pregnant woman.
Alex questioned Vera about what she was going to do with the baby, but she didn't really have an answer. And frustrated with her lack of answer, Alex came to his own decision that Vera would have an abortion, and they would try to reignite their love.
When Vera was comatose, Alex came in to talk to her. I wonder whether Alex knew that Vera had overdosed on the pills or not. He had asked her to stop making him feel worse. Was that because he knew, or was truly just him being self-absorbed?
Let me take a moment to talk about Alex and Mark's relationship. They are definitely closer to each other than anybody else. When Alex first brought up the affair to Mark, Alex told him that he would have to kill Vera. What did Mark think of that? Was Alex serious at the time? As well, Mark and Alex were both involved in criminal activities, so in addition to being brothers, they'd probably built this sort of comraderie that comes with fighting alongside one another and keeping each other's secrets.
Vera died, and Alex wanted the funeral to be done as quickly as possible to avoid the gossip growing even bigger than it already was. Like I said, this felt disrespectful to Vera. Her own children couldn't even attend her funeral.
Mark had had his heart attack earlier in the day but had insisted on going to the funeral, and died on the way back. Why? Did Mark think that Alex needed the support? Or did Alex just think that Mark would've been good with the logistics of it all in case Alex might've found himself more emotional than he expected at the funeral?
Alex gave money to the doctor to handle Mark's death, which I guess would've included the funeral. My guess was that though Alex and Mark were close, Alex needed to leave right away to avoid more gossip (though his kids were still staying at Viktor's house so he'd have to go back to the country to pick them up anyway).
Alex's plan was to confront Robert, the man he thought Vera had an affair with. When he visited Robert, he brought the pregnancy test letter and a gun, but things did not turn out the way he thought they would. The pregnancy test would've told him that the baby was his, and Robert would've told him that Vera was suicidal. Though Robert would've had no proof, I don't think that was important.
What were Alex's thoughts on the revelations? The optimistic answer would be that Alex felt remorse at not noticing the signs that his wife was feeling neglected and in need of affection. The pessimistic answer would be that Alex feels even guiltier that he killed his wife for an affair she did not have. We know that he was already feeling immense guilt, but now knowing that she wasn't even guilty of what he thought she was guilty of makes him feel even more burdened.
It's hard to say whether his relationship with his kids will get better. Though he took them to play and have fun, it's hard to say he showed them affection like Vera did. Like Vera said, he loved his wife and kids for his own sake, to prove to the world that he was a good husband and father, and not necessarily because he loved them as people.
Vera
At the end of the movie, it was revealed that Vera was suicidal, and had been feeling neglected by Alex for a while now. She had attempted suicide once, but was saved by Robert.
I think that when Vera found out she was pregnant, she would use this opportunity to test their relationship one more time. (This is totally just a theory, by the way. As I mentioned, I don't think we saw the characters doing very many things, so I don't feel that I have a good grasp on them.) I think that Vera purposely gave Alex a non-answer on what she would do with the baby so that she could see what Alex would want to do. If Alex had agreed to take care of the baby even though he thought it wasn't his, I think that she would've given their relationship one more shot. If Alex decided to take care of the baby, I think that would've been a sign to Vera that he loved her for her, and not because she was a placeholder for the role of his wife.
But one of the first things that Alex told Vera was that he didn't care about the baby at all, which basically told Vera her answer. Alex expected fidelity in their relationship, not because he was fully devoted to Vera and loved her, but because that is what people in a marriage do.
From then on, Vera let Alex do whatever he wanted, going ahead with the abortion. Vera later then overdosed on the painkillers.
To Vera, there really was no other option. I think she was also frightened of Alex and Mark's criminal background, so there was absolutely no chance of divorce or running away. Though Mark was completely detached from his family, I think Vera couldn't take the kids with her and go away, because she doesn't even feel an attachment to the kids that she thinks she should have.
While Vera cared for the kids the best she could, the fact that they weren't children of love between Alex and her probably hurt her. Every time she looked at her kids, I think she was reminded that Alex didn't love her the way she wanted him to.
Kir
Kir was the older child of Alex and Vera. He wasn't firmly on team mom or team dad, and we saw that he did love them in his own ways, I think. He liked spending time with his dad, which is reasonable for little boys who want a male role model in their lives. However, he was also mad at him for hitting his mom. So though Kir might not have really expressed it, he did bond with his parents, but the key here is that he bonded them in different ways, and not together. I think he rarely spent time with both of his parents unless they were just travelling.
It was Kir who revealed to Alex that Robert had come to their house one time, but it was Alex who had jumped to conclusions that Robert was Vera's affair partner.
Eva
Eva was the main reason I thought this movie was going to be a Biblical allegory about the Garden of Eden. Man, it would've been so cool if it was. I love movies that have heavy Biblical undertones even though I'm not devoutly religious lol.
At the beginning of the movie, Eva had a small spat with her mother. Basically she just didn't want to be called by her pet name "Bunny." Vera went out of the room to cry, but in hindsight, I'm not sure whether she was crying because Eva was defying her or otherwise. In any case, Eva went outside to apologize and they hugged it out. Alex came out to ask what was the matter and Vera said nothing was the matter and Alex just went back in, which kind of showed that Alex really did take things at face value. Vera was crying and Eva was hugging her but because Vera said she was alright, she must be, right?
It seemed to me that Alex did more things with Kir than Eva, but I wonder whether it was just a traditional son vs. daughter thing. As in, Alex thought it was his responsibility to make his son into a man, and it was his wife's responsibility to make his daughter into a woman. Otherwise, he did take Eva out to play as well.
Mark
Mark was Alex's brother. They were very close, probably because they carried out criminal activities together and trusted each other a lot. They also protected each other.
When Mark found out that Vera's baby was Alex's, he told the doctor that he wouldn't tell Alex. Otherwise, Alex would probably feel immense guilt. But he still placed the letter in the glove box of Alex's car. Why did he do that? Did he decide that he wanted Alex to confront the truth? Or had he intended to take it back but had died before being able to do so?
Mark went with Alex to Vera's funeral. Apparently he had insisted doing so despite having had a heart attack earlier, and he did end up dying after the funeral.
When Mark died, Alex simply left money for the doctor to handle his death. I thought that Alex and Mark were close, so this was surprising. Or is it because Alex's idea of love simply means checking a box. Did he think that leaving money to fund Mark's funeral was enough to show his love?
Doctor
I did get creepy vibes from the doctor for some reason. I just felt that he was up to no good. But perhaps that was just because he was used to working with criminals. The doctor was also responsible for revealing a lot of the factual information in the movie.
Afer Mark died, Alex left him some money to take care of Mark's death, which included having him be taken to the morgue. Afterwards, we saw the doctor closing up the country home again, reverting the country home to a state that it was like before.
Robert
Robert was a friend of Alex and Mark's, and he'd helped Vera when she was suicidal. It turns out Robert was NOT the father and NOT an asshole, it was just Alex jumping to conclusions, and Alex was the asshole all along.
Flora
Flora was one of Viktor's daughters that Kir seemed to have been the closest with. During hide and seek, Flora ran far away because she didn't want to play, and Kir and Flora had a chat about why they liked being alone.
Later on, Kir also called Flora to talk. But overall, I think Kir and Eva were close with all of Viktor's kids, Fayna, Frida, and Flora.
Themes
Country Home
I think the country home served some more visual motifs. As I mentioned, a lot of the time, the space was shot to look very wide, this was even the case within the country home. Rooms would look very wide, leaving a very empty space in the middle. Like I said, it matched the empty and desolate tone of the movie, reflecting Vera's feelings that she was trapped in a world without love.
At the end of the movie, the doctor boarded up the country home back up as if nothing had happened. If it was up to Alex, I think he would act like nothing happened in front of the kids. If the kids questioned him about their mom, I think he would give them a non-answer.
Gender Roles
As mentioned, Alex seemed to care for Vera, Kir, and Eva in the way that he felt fathers should take care of their family, not necessarily because he loved them as people. He definitely didn't show Vera the care and attention she needed, as she was literally suicidal and he had no idea.
Overall
Like most movies, I had to write my review to start appreciating it more lol. But in this case, it was because I felt that a lot of the characters thoughts and motivations were not explicitly stated and so I had to think it out in order to appreciate the message of the story. And knowing me, I might develop more thoughts about this movie later on as more time passes.
Like I said, I don't think this is a bad movie, just not one of my favourites of Zvyagintsev's. I'd still recommend it, but after the other of his movies.