Sensing and Longing for God in Andrey Zvyagintsev's The Return and Leviathan

This article explores apophatic ways of presenting God (the Other) in two films of Andrey Zvyagintsev. The lens for this analysis is the phenomenological theology of John Panteleimon Manoussakis, using the following concepts: (1) God as personal Other; (2) the relational nature of God's self-disclosure through prosopon; (3) God as revealed in space/sight; (4) God as revealed in hearing/time; and (5) God as revealed in touch/self-understanding. This analysis, pursued through close examination of Zvyagintsev's The Return (2003) and Leviathan (2014), demonstrates the relevance of Manoussakis's theology to the study of religion and film, particularly in its sensual and experiential themes and emphases.