Andrey Zvyagintsev’s 'Leviathan’: The Unbearable State of Nature

Katarzyna Krzyżanowska

doi:10.36280/afpifs.2021.1.62

Research article

Andrey Zvyagintsev’s 'Leviathan’: The Unbearable State of Nature

Katarzyna Krzyżanowska

“Lewiatan” Andrieja Zwagincewa: nieznośny stan natury

Archiwum Filozofii Prawa i Filozofii Społecznej, nr 1(26)/2021, s. 62-75

DOI 10.36280/afpifs.2021.1.62 ↗

Issue: nr 1(26)/2021
Pages: 62-75
Published: 2021
Article language: English

English

Abstract

Leviathan by Andrey Zvyagintsev is a movie that depicts the world in a state of nature, with no prospects for creating a Hobbesian social contract. Set in the Russian peripheries, the film depicts a respected and caring family man who is gradually deprived of everything because of lack of political order with enforceable law and justice. The movie is a depiction of a contemporary “failed state”, equalized with the state of nature, where there is no legitimate power and violence remains the only tool to achieve goals both in private and public spheres. Religion consists of empty rituals that serve corrupt officials to maintain power. This world cannot last without innocent victims, scapegoats of the society, one of whom is the protagonist of the movie. This paper offers a legal and philosophical inquiry into the film, as it draws especially on the theory of the social contract proposed by Hobbes. It depicts a Russian town as a symbol of the state of nature as envisioned by Hobbes and describes the reasons why the social contract has not been made. According to Hobbes’s theory, in the state of nature concepts like justice and injustice do not convey any meaning; therefore, this paper investigates other: theological and anthropological concepts, to explore the meaning of Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan.

Keywords

Leviathan
Hobbes
Legendre
Agamben
crisis
ritual
religion
law

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21 reference entries

References

Abizadeh, A. (2013). The Representation of Hobbesian Sovereignty Leviathan as Mythology. In S.A. Lloyd (ed.), Hobbes Today: Insights for the 21st Century (pp. 113-154). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Agamben, G. (2015). Pilate and Jesus. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Berns, L. (1987). Thomas Hobbes. In J. Cropsey, L. Strauss (eds.), History of Political Philosophy. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Braybrooke, D. (2013). A Note on Hobbesian Lessons on Bipartisanship. In S.A. Lloyd (ed.), Hobbes Today. Insights for the 21st Century (pp. 20-24). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Burkert, W. (1983). Homo Necans. The Anthropology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth. Berkely: University of California Press.
Cammack, M. (1992). Evidence Rules and the Ritual Functions of Trials: Saying Something of Something. Loyola Los Angeles Law Review 25, 783-796.
Cohern, J. (2013). Getting Past Hobbes. In: S.A. Lloyd (ed.), Hobbes Today: Insights for the 21 Century (pp. 3-19). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fish, S. (2017). Thomas Hobbes: The Father of Law and Literature. Law & Literature 29, 151-156.
Gauthier, D. (1988). Symposium Papers, Comments and an Abstract: Hobbes's Social Contract. Noûs 22, 71-82.
Girard, R. (1996). The Girard Reader. J.G. Williams (ed.). New York: Crossroad Herder.
Horvath, R. (2016). The Reinvention of ‘Traditional Values’: Nataliya Narochnitskaya and Russia’s Assault on Universal Human Rights. Europe-Asia Studies 68, 868-892.
Kamir, O. (2005). Why ‘Law-and-Film’ and What Does it Actually Mean? A Perspective. Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies 19, 255-278.
Legendre, P. (1997). Law and the Unconsciouss. Legendre Reader. P. Goodrich (ed.). London: Palgrave Macmillian.
Lilla, M. (2007). The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics and the Modern West. New York: Vintage.
Malcolm, N. (ed.) (2012). Leviathan. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
MacNeil, W.P. (2007.) Lex Populi: The Jurisprudence of Popular Culture. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Peters, T.D. (2016). Reading the law made strange: cultural legal studies, theology and speculative fiction. In C. Sharp, M. Leiboff (eds.), Law’ s popular cultures and the metamorphosis of Law (pp. 252-273). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Rotaru, V., Troncotă, M. (2017). Continuity and change in instrumentalizing ‘The Precedent’. How Russia uses Kosovo to legitimize the annexation of Crimea. Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 17(3), 325-345.
Schmitt, C. (1996). The Leviathan in the State Theory of Thomas Hobbes. Meaning And Failure Of A Political Symbol. Westport, London: Greenwood Press.
Schmitt, C. (2005). Political Theology: Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty. Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press.
Shklar, J. (1989). The Liberalism of Fear. In N.L. Rosenblum (ed.), Liberalism and the Moral Life (pp. 21-38). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Publication information

Author and affiliation

Katarzyna Krzyżanowska

European University Institute, Florence

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9507-7451

Issue data

Issue nr 1(26)/2021

Pages: 62-75
Published: 2021
DOI: 10.36280/afpifs.2021.1.62
PDF: Full text PDF

AccessOpen LicenceCC BY 4.0 ↗

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K. Krzyżanowska, Andrey Zvyagintsev’s 'Leviathan’: The Unbearable State of Nature, „Archiwum Filozofii Prawa i Filozofii Społecznej” nr 1(26)/2021, s. 62–75, DOI: 10.36280/afpifs.2021.1.62

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[ref-001] Abizadeh, A. (2013). The Representation of Hobbesian Sovereignty Leviathan as Mythology. In S.A. Lloyd (ed.), Hobbes Today: Insights for the 21st Century (pp. 113-154). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[ref-002] Agamben, G. (2015). Pilate and Jesus. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

[ref-003] Berns, L. (1987). Thomas Hobbes. In J. Cropsey, L. Strauss (eds.), History of Political Philosophy. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

[ref-004] Braybrooke, D. (2013). A Note on Hobbesian Lessons on Bipartisanship. In S.A. Lloyd (ed.), Hobbes Today. Insights for the 21st Century (pp. 20-24). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[ref-005] Burkert, W. (1983). Homo Necans. The Anthropology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth. Berkely: University of California Press.

[ref-006] Cammack, M. (1992). Evidence Rules and the Ritual Functions of Trials: Saying Something of Something. Loyola Los Angeles Law Review 25, 783-796.

[ref-007] Cohern, J. (2013). Getting Past Hobbes. In: S.A. Lloyd (ed.), Hobbes Today: Insights for the 21 Century (pp. 3-19). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[ref-008] Fish, S. (2017). Thomas Hobbes: The Father of Law and Literature. Law & Literature 29, 151-156.

[ref-009] Gauthier, D. (1988). Symposium Papers, Comments and an Abstract: Hobbes's Social Contract. Noûs 22, 71-82.

[ref-010] Girard, R. (1996). The Girard Reader. J.G. Williams (ed.). New York: Crossroad Herder.

[ref-011] Horvath, R. (2016). The Reinvention of ‘Traditional Values’: Nataliya Narochnitskaya and Russia’s Assault on Universal Human Rights. Europe-Asia Studies 68, 868-892.

[ref-012] Kamir, O. (2005). Why ‘Law-and-Film’ and What Does it Actually Mean? A Perspective. Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies 19, 255-278.

[ref-013] Legendre, P. (1997). Law and the Unconsciouss. Legendre Reader. P. Goodrich (ed.). London: Palgrave Macmillian.

[ref-014] Lilla, M. (2007). The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics and the Modern West. New York: Vintage.

[ref-015] Malcolm, N. (ed.) (2012). Leviathan. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[ref-016] MacNeil, W.P. (2007.) Lex Populi: The Jurisprudence of Popular Culture. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

[ref-017] Peters, T.D. (2016). Reading the law made strange: cultural legal studies, theology and speculative fiction. In C. Sharp, M. Leiboff (eds.), Law’ s popular cultures and the metamorphosis of Law (pp. 252-273). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

[ref-018] Rotaru, V., Troncotă, M. (2017). Continuity and change in instrumentalizing ‘The Precedent’. How Russia uses Kosovo to legitimize the annexation of Crimea. Southeast European and Black Sea Studies 17(3), 325-345.

[ref-019] Schmitt, C. (1996). The Leviathan in the State Theory of Thomas Hobbes. Meaning And Failure Of A Political Symbol. Westport, London: Greenwood Press.

[ref-020] Schmitt, C. (2005). Political Theology: Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty. Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press.

[ref-021] Shklar, J. (1989). The Liberalism of Fear. In N.L. Rosenblum (ed.), Liberalism and the Moral Life (pp. 21-38). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Andrey Zvyagintsev’s 'Leviathan’: The Unbearable State of Nature

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Katarzyna Krzyżanowska

Issue nr 1(26)/2021

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