A cinematic virtuoso, Russia`s Andrey Zvyagintsev, has picked up a Special Jury Prize for his latest drama Elena, which was screened at the world`s most prestigious film festival, at Cannes. ­Elena invokes emotions and moods that lie within human nature and can be hard to cope with or withstood. It is a work of art with worldwide appeal, reflecting on fears, senses and morals. The Russian film relates to a middle-aged couple, Elena and Vladimir, coming from different walks of society. He is a well-off businessman. She is a former medical worker, now a housewife. Each has children from previous marriages: Elena`s son is permanently unemployed, with a wife and two children living off Elena`s donations from her pension and her husband`s support. Vladimir`s daughter Katya is also quite hard to deal with - she has a tough character, living her life to the full. Having met quite late in their life and now ten years into the marriage, Elena and Vladimir still seem to share some common language. Experience, however, means conflict, and conflict means drama. After a sudden heart attack, Vladimir is in a hurry to make his will, according to which his daughter will be his only heiress. This sudden decision is just about to ruin Elena`s hopes to continue helping her only son through her rich husband. The loving wife commits a murder for the comfort of her son and grandchildren… The award-winning director of The Return said that he was anxious to shoot the film as soon as he finished reading the script. "I realized that I had to do it `right here, right now,` urgently! Not because it`s a hot topic, but because it`s so close to the point. It`s a diagnosis. Almost a surgical diagnosis of what is going on with us. I`m sure that Russian audiences will respond to Elena. It`s about us," said the director. "Our time is breathing with crime, screaming about it, Zvyagintsev told RT. "The only difference is that in the mid-19th century and even later on in the 20th, during the time of humanism, there was crime but then there was also punishment." He recalled that in one of his favorite movies, Woody Allen`s Match Point, the main character is walking around with a copy of Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky. "There`s neither repentance, nor punishment. And the evil is not cracked down on. This is exactly the idea of the new time, that crime can be flawless, ideal, unpunished," the director said, sadly. He said there are certain signs in his Elena that her punishment is her inner devastation. "I hope that she won`t be able to live quietly with it." Elena is shown as a caring mother of her son, Sergey, who is idle, cynical and selfish. However, people like him do not fight for their living, finding those who can provide for them. They bring up their children in a similar manner. "They breed without realizing that a human being is not a plant or an amoeba, but should respond consciously and responsibly to what they do even if it`s all about biological ‘laws of nature’. The challenge is not to turn into a vegetable," Zvyagintsev added. The lead actress of the film, Nadezhda Markina, who has delivered a tour-de-force in Elena, said she had mixed feelings towards her character. "I wanted her not to get away with what she did." "This story could have happened in the times of Greek tragedy or in our days, it has a wide scale. Our world is so inhuman. People go through continuous hardships, which make our living next to impossible. We come to grips with life on the daily basis, from moral traditions to family values. Everything has been destroyed by people, because they were too easy on themselves." Elena is a chance to reflect on the reckless attitude and search for some strength to deal with it.