Andrey Zvyagintsev's 'Minotauro' reworks Chabrol's 'The Unfaithful Wife' as Putin-era allegory

At the Cannes Film Festival, exiled Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev presents 'Minotauro', a remake of Claude Chabrol's 'The Unfaithful Wife' that layers in a critique of Russia under Putin and the war in Ukraine. Zvyagintsev, who fled Russia after speaking out against the regime, uses the film to examine a country infected by authoritarianism and conflict. The film is part of a curious trend in the official selection: two exiled directors—Zvyagintsev and Asghar Farhadi—have chosen to remake works by other auteurs. Farhadi's entry, based on the sixth chapter of Kieslowski's 'Decalogue', is seen as a lesser effort, a mere diversion about how art and fiction contaminate each other. In contrast, Zvyagintsev's 'Minotauro' is praised as an excellent advance in his filmography, which has consistently radiographed Russian society. The article also notes that Cristian Mungiu disappoints with 'Fjord', and includes a profile of footballer Éric Cantona, who reflects on kicking a fan and says he would hit him harder.