Zvyagintsev's 'Minotaur' Trailer Unveiled as French Oscar Bid Looms
Andrey Zvyagintsev's latest film, Minotaur, which won at Cannes, has released its trailer. The director, who previously made Leviathan and Loveless, shot this political thriller in Latvia as a stand-in for Russia. The film is now on France's shortlist for the international feature Oscar, a first for the Russian-born filmmaker.
Zvyagintsev’s adaptation of Claude Chabrol’s 1969 *The Unfaithful Wife* deliberately avoids Adrian Lyne’s 2002 remake, which he never watched to keep the source pure. The film’s 2022 setting lets the director weave office politics and war pressure into the domestic betrayal plot, a layer absent from Chabrol’s original. Production moved to Latvia after Zvyagintsev relocated to France, and the nearly decade-long gap since *Loveless* followed a severe long-COVID illness that left him immobile for a year. His previous two films were Russia’s Oscar submissions; *Minotaur* instead competes via France.
This film’s French Oscar bid could reshape how international audiences perceive Russian dissident art, offering a narrative of exile and moral critique without state sponsorship. Viewers may see the thriller as a mirror for broader geopolitical tensions, potentially influencing festival juries and awards discourse. For Zvyagintsev, it may solidify his standing as a transnational auteur, while also prompting conversations about artistic freedom under authoritarian pressure.