Return
An accomplished physicist’s return to Armenia turns professional adversity into a deeply personal rediscovery of love and belonging.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- None
- reflective
- restrained
- melancholic
- quiet evening
- arthouse film night
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The physicist is invited from Russia to Armenia and faces troubles while trying to establish himself in his homeland.
The central character is an outstanding physicist whose appointment to head a laboratory places him at the center of institutional and personal tensions.
The protagonist finds true love in Armenia despite the difficulties he encounters there.
The physicist’s laboratory leadership and encounters with professors and an academician create professional obstacles in his homeland.
Films like Return, and why
The Cranes Are Flying
shared themes of intellectual ambition, romantic attachment, and return to a culturally significant homeland
Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears
shared drama of personal identity, social pressures, and emotionally restrained romantic conflict in Soviet-era cinema
Autumn Marathon
shared focus on a brilliant outsider navigating institutional life and intimate relationships within a serious character drama
Movie Details
- Directors
- Arman Manaryan, Roman Zhamgaryan
- Release Date
- 1972-07-02
- Runtime
- 82 min
- Rating
- 6.3 / 10 (563)
Cast
- Vladimir Mrsyan
- Anait Topchyan
- Karen Jangiryan
- Hakob Azizyan
- Yervand Manaryan
- Efim Kopelyan
- Paruyr Santrosyan
- Stepan Harutyunyan
- Grachya Kostanyan
Common questions
- What is Return about?
- An accomplished physicist’s return to Armenia turns professional adversity into a deeply personal rediscovery of love and belonging.
- What is Return like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Return as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Return violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Return.
- Which films are like Return?
- Films with a similar feel include The Cranes Are Flying, Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears, and Autumn Marathon.
- How long is Return?
- Return runs 82 minutes.
