брат (Brother)

Alexei Balabanov’s брат (brother) opened to aclaim at NYC’s Film Forum in 1998 as the first post-Soviet film to accurately portray Russian life after the fall of Communism.

This cynical, hard-boiled gangster film does not deal in nostalgia for some
glorious Stalinist past, rather director Balabanov is mesmerized by the callous and hedonistic society which took shape before his eyes.

The brave new world of drugs, rock-and-roll, crime and nihilism might be
dragging the world down around them, but the characters in “Brother” plan
to have a good time in the process, like a party on the deck of the sinking
Titanic.

The story: Danila (played by Sergei Bodrov, Russia’s hottest new actor) has just arrived in St. Petersburg, formerly Leningrad, to look up his older brother Viktor (Victor Sohurukov), a free-lance hit-man. Danila has just finished serving in the Russian army and is unemployed.

Viktor drafts his younger brother into the family business. And now, here is брат (Brother):

Part One:

 

Part Two:

The film sequel Brother 2 was released in 2000. It was screened at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.