Brother (1997 film)

For other uses, see Brat (disambiguation).

Brother
Directed by	Aleksei Balabanov
Produced by	Sergei Selyanov
Written by	Aleksei Balabanov
Starring	Sergei Bodrov, Jr. Viktor Sukhorukov Vyacheslav Butusov
Distributed by	Kino International Corp.
Release date(s)	May 17, 1997 (Cannes)
Running time	99 minutes
Country	Russia
Language	Russian
Budget	$10,000

Brother (Russian: Брат, translit. Brat) is a 1997 Russian crime film directed by Aleksei Balabanov and starring Sergei Bodrov, Jr. The sequel Brother 2 was released in 2000. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.

Plot

The film begins when Danila Bagrov (Bodrov), a former conscript after demobilisation, travels to St. Petersburg to seek out his older brother Viktor, who his mother is confident will help him make a living. His brother, Viktor (criminal nickname Tatarin), is an accomplished hitman who himself is growing too independent for his role and irritating his mob boss Krugly (literally: "Round"). So when the Krugly hires Viktor to assassinate a Chechen mafia boss, Viktor offers the job to Danila.

Although he claims that his Army service was spent at headquarters as a clerk, Danila carries the task out professionally. However, Krugly's hitmen who have been sent to take out Viktor upon completion follow Danila and injure him as he flees the scene in a cargo tram. After helping him, the driver of the tram, Sveta, who is married to an abusive husband, pursues an affair with Danila.

Shortly thereafter, Danila befriends several people from a very wide urban spectrum: Kat, an energetic drug addict, and Nemets (literally "German") Hoffman, a kind homeless man who helps Danila to find a home and treats him when injured.

After the first job, Viktor offers Danila a new one that he must carry out with two of Krugly's hitmen. Upon raiding the apartment, it turns out their main target is away. As they wait, first a guest to a party a floor above becomes a hostage, and the famous Rock music star Vyacheslav Butusov (who plays himself), of whom Danila is very fond, almost ends in a similar situation. Afterwards Danila decides to save the radio director, Butusov's friend, and kills the two assassins after they kill another hostage. Once again Nemets helps Danila.

By this time, Krugly becomes frustrated that all his jobs with Tatarin end with his men being killed. So instead he raids Viktor's home who gives the details of his brother. Danila is first unsuccessfully ambushed near his home by a Krot (literally Mole). After that fails, Krugly raids Sveta's communal apartment and his men assault and rape her. Upon returning and seeing Sveta's face Danila becomes enraged, realizing that it was not her husband but his assassins that are responsible.

Just then, he calls his brother who tells him to come immediately. By this point, Krugly has beaten Viktor and is prepared to finish both of the brothers off. However Danila proves too strong a challenge, and ends up killing most of Krugly's men along with Krugly himself.

Afterward, Danila realizes that his own brother has turned him in, yet forgives him, and tells him to move back to his home town. Afterward, in an attempt to rescue Sveta, he stumbles upon her husband whom he shoots and injures. Yet Sveta refuses to go with Danila and shows love to her spouse instead. Later on, saying goodbye to Kat, Danila and Nemets hold a final philosophical conversation, and the film ends with Danila on a snow-covered road hitching a ride to Moscow.

Cast

• Sergei Bodrov Jr. - Danilo Bagrov
• Viktor Sukhorukov - Danila's Brother Victor Bagrov
• Svetlana Pismichenko - Sveta
• Yuri Kuznetsov - Hofman (The German)
• Mariyz Zhukova - Cat
• Vyacheslav Butusov - Butusov
• Irina Rakshina - Zinka
• Sergei Murzin - Kruglyj (The Round)
• Anatoli Zhuravlyov - Nervous Bandit
• Igor Shibanov - Militiaman
• Andrey Fyodortsov - Styopa
• Sergei Debizhev - Himself

Production crew

• Aleksei Balabanov — director, screenwriter
• Sergei Selyanov — producer
• Sergei Astakhov — cinematorapher
• Vyacheslav Butusov — composer
• Vladimir Kartashov — production designer
• Nadezhda Vasilyeva — costumer

Impact of the film

The film became an instant hit, and raised the fortunes of both Sergey Bodrov and director Aleksei Balabanov.^{[citation needed]} The story's depiction revolves around the problems and attitudes of the 1990s Russia: crime, poverty (for example, as with the homeless Nemets), the disaffection of the Russian youth (as with the character Kat), and failing families (as with Sveta and her abusive husband) brought about in the aftermath of the Soviet collapse, which took place six years prior. Yet it exposes that there is still courage and good in the face of Danila, who is portrayed as having an acute sense of right and wrong, and appears to follow some semblance of a moral code. As such it carries a powerful psychological message to the Russian audience that even in such gloomy times there is still hope.

External links

• Brother at AllRovi
• Brother at the Internet Movie Database