Brother 2

            Brother 2 is the sequel made to the 1997 film, Brother. It was made in 2000 and directed by Aleksei Balabanov. Once again, the main character is Danila, played by Sergei Bodrov Jr. The character of Danila in Brother 2 is the same as how he acted in Brother. He still has a great interest in music, as he is constantly listening to his Discman or buying new albums. Danila also still tries to help people through the use of violence. His friend, Kostya, is killed in the beginning of the film, and Kostya’s brother is being controlled by an unfair contract forced upon him by Richard Mennis. Kostya’s brother is Mitya, who plays hockey in Chicago. To avenge his friend’s death, and help out Kostya’s brother, Danila goes to Chicago with his brother to confront Richard Mennis. I found that there are similar scenes between Brother and Brother 2 that involve Danila giving money to another character in the film. In Brother, Danila gives money to Kat before he heads off for Moscow. In Brother 2, Danila returns Mitya’s money to him before heading back to Russia.

            One of the interesting aspects of Brother 2 was the portrayal of Chicago and its inhabitants. The people who live in Chicago that Danila deals with are violent and disrespectful. The police are incompetent compared to Danila or his brother, as Viktor easily beats a police officer in a fight. In the end of the film, it takes many police officers to be able to arrest Viktor. Business in America is corrupt in the film, as one of the antagonists of the film is Richard Mennis. There is one American who is trustworthy in Brother 2, and this character is Ben. Ben is a hardworking truck driver, who becomes Danila’s friend after Danila’s car breaks down. 

            I found Brother 2 to be one of the better films that we watched in Russian Cinema. It was funny to see the reversed roles of Danila and Viktor in the beginning of the film. Viktor is being yelled at by his mother, similar to the opening of Brother, except it is Danila in Viktor’s place. Each film has the initial scene located on the set of some sort of film that is being produced.

Piter FM

Piter-FM is a film directed by Oksana Bychkova and it was made in 2006. The film concerns the characters Masha and Maksim. Masha is the host of a radio show, and Maksim is an architect who is planning on moving to Germany. The plot of the film revolves around the lives of the two, and that Maksim found Masha’s lost phone and is trying to return it to her. I found that I did not like Piter-FM, as the story was frustrating and the characters were not interesting. There are several scenes where Masha and Maksim are trying to meet in order for Maksim to give Masha her phone, but every time they attempt to meet each other, they miss each other. It was somewhat funny the first time it happened, but after they repeatedly pass each other on the streets of St. Petersburg I became annoyed. I thought the two passing each other repeatedly became bland and these scenes were too numerous throughout the film.

            The ending of the film is what I found to be the most frustrating aspect of Piter-FM. The film seemed to focus on the multiple attempts for Maksim to return the phone to Masha, but he ends up dropping it in a river. Maksim decides to call the radio station to try to get a message to Masha, but he then discovers that Masha is the host of the radio show he calls. This is when the film ends. I found this frustrating because I thought that the film would have some sort of conclusion. The film had many loose ends that still had to be addressed. Did Maksim decide to go to Germany? Did Maksim eventually meet Masha? The film stopped earlier than I thought it should have, and this was unsatisfying. Also, why was Masha still running the radio show? I thought she had been fired in the scene before she decides to call off the wedding?

The Return

           The film The Return, directed by Andrei Zvyagintsev, was made in 2003. After viewing The Return, I realized that much of the film was influenced by the famous Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky. This can be seen from the beginning of the film with the names of two of the main characters. The two brothers are named Ivan and Andrey. When I heard their names, I thought that Zvyagintsev may be paying homage to Tarkovsky by naming one of the characters after Tarkovsky and the younger brother after the main character of Tarkovsky’s first film, Ivan’s Childhood. Of course, Zvyagintsev could have named Andrey after himself, but I believe that the act of naming the elder brother Andrei is not out of vanity. There is so much influence from Tarkovsky that it makes sense for Andrei to be named after him.

            Zvyagintsev is clearly influenced by Tarkovsky when it comes to adding the elements to his films. In Tarkovsky films such as Ivan’s Childhood and The Mirror, there are several scenes that include water. In The Mirror, containers of liquid move around, and in some scenes water drips from the ceiling. Likewise, in Ivan’s Childhood, there are scenes with rain, including one of Ivan’s dreams. In The Return, Ivan is left on a bridge and there is a storm. This occurs on Wednesday in the film. When Andrey and his father climb the tower on Friday, there is a storm as well. The characters of the film have to sail to the island that they are traveling to, so there is plenty of water in those scenes too. I think that the storm and the rain could foreshadow the father’s death in this film and the conflict between the sons and the father. The rain creates a dreary atmosphere and feels foreboding at times. In The Mirror, the wind is present in some scenes. On Tuesday in The Return, the camera focuses in on some reeds after the car leaves the shot. The reeds blow in the wind.

            There are three other instances in the film that I though demonstrated the influence Tarkovsky had over Zvyagintsev. On Tuesday during the trip, the father watches a woman through the mirror on his car. Though it was only a short segment of the film, I thought this could be Zvyagintsev once again showing his respect for Tarkovsky by using mirrors as Tarkovsky does in The Mirror. I think this is the best explanation for this because it does not seem to have any significance to the plot. Later on in the trip on Friday, Ivan sees a dead bird on the ground. This reminded me of the bird that is in The Mirror. The scene of Ivan running through the forest on the island on Friday reminded me of a scene from Ivan’s Childhood when Masha is in the forest with Kholin.

            I found The Return to be one of the best, if not the best, films we have watched in Russian Cinema. My favorite thus far is a toss-up between The Return and The Mirror. The atmosphere that Zvyagintsev created was one of the major strengths of the film. The Return was tense due to the relationship between the brothers, and their relationship with their father. At times it was bleak and dreary, and I felt this helped deliver the plot to the viewer tremendously.

Brother

            Brother is a film directed by Aleksei Balabanov that was made in 1997. The film concerns a man named Danila Bagrov, played by Sergei Bodrov Jr. In the film Danila goes to St. Petersburg, where his brother Viktor lives. While in St. Petersburg, Danila participates in murdering and hit killings as his brother has become a gangster. Danila seems to be a character that is quick to use violence. In the beginning of the film, he accidentally walks through a movie that is being shot and is getting chased by guards. Danila fights the guards and beats them, but gets into trouble. This is one of the reasons he goes to St. Petersburg. As the film progresses, Danila uses violence to help others. He helps Nemets by stopping a man trying to rob him, and later he forces two people off a bus with a gun because they refused to pay for tickets. I think Danila is motivated to fight people for good reasons, and he feels that violence is the solution to many of the problems he deals with in the film.

            Danila comes from a military background. He claims in the film that he was only a clerk in the military, but I question this after seeing his skills with guns and violence. The background in the military helps him with his mob assignments and the fights he is involved in, as he knows how to handle weapons and enemies. In the shootout he is involved in while trying to save his brother; he uses a shotgun that he himself modified. He saws off the barrel and the stock of the gun and he makes ammunition. This helps him in the fight, demonstrating to the viewer how his military knowledge is helpful in his mobster life. Though Danila is a mobster, he is easier to sympathize with than the other mobsters in the films. I think this is because he tries to help people throughout the film, and he is also a man of his word. There are two moments in the film in which Danila spares the life of a man because he promises that no one will hurt them. Danila even kills two other mobsters so that one of the men can live. This demonstrates to the viewer that Danila is not interested in killing innocent people.

            One aspect of the film I found interesting was Danila’s love of music. I found this interesting because I myself am attached to music. I think that Danila is fond of music because it is calming to him and helps distract him from the violence that he is involved in often throughout the film. There are two other things that I found interesting about Brother. One is when Zinka sees Danila’s gunshot wound for the first time. The viewer is not aware about whether or not Zinka knows about the wound, but when she sees it, it does not affect her in any way. This demonstrates to the viewer how violent life could be in St. Petersburg. Often times in the film, when people would answer their doors they would be armed. This could be due to the line of work that Danila is in, but even the man that sells him the rifle owns a rifle. He is not involved in the mobs in St. Petersburg. I noticed in Brother that when the mobsters are luring Danila to Viktor’s apartment, a man who is off camera seems to be playing Russian roulette with Viktor. This did not make sense to me because they are trying to use Viktor to lure Danila to his apartment; killing Viktor would not help them with their goal.

Little Vera

            Little Vera is a film directed by Vasily Pichul that was made in 1988. The film takes place in the Glasnost and Perestroika periods of the Soviet Union. It is a very dark and bleak film, and it is significantly different than anything else we have watched in Russian Cinema. Little Vera focuses on Vera, the main character in the film. Vera is different than many other  main characters in the previous films we have viewed. In films such as Ballad of a Soldier and Moscow Does not Believe in Tears, the main characters are characters that the viewer can sympathize with and even admire. I found Vera to be a character that I did not care for in any way. She is dramatic, she does not think about her actions, and she is argumentative. This makes her difficult to like.

            The major aspect of the film that stood out to me was how life was portrayed in Little Vera. The locations the film takes place in are rundown. This gives the setting a bleaker and darker feeling as the fighting that takes place between the characters occurs in these settings. In the beginning of the film the viewer can see the city  covered by smoke and fog. The city itself seems plain due to the colors the buildings are painted. There are also many factories scattered throughout the city. This makes the city seem unwelcoming and dismal. This is a sharp contrast to Moscow Does not Believe in Tears, which has fancy apartments that are busy and full of people and activity.

            One issue concerning life that is wrestled with in Little Vera is the problem of alcoholism. In other films the problem is not often addressed. Characters will have drinks, and they will appear happy and in good spirits. In Irony of Fate, the main character becomes inebriated enough to be sent to a different city via airplane without realizing what has happened. The film downplays this as a comic situation, and the viewer does not think about the seriousness or dangers of the situation. In Little Vera, alcoholism is not portrayed in a positive light. Characters constantly fight and argue with each other, and in one situation Vera’s father stabs Sergei. This gives the film a depressing feeling. Another problem that is dealt with in Little Vera is drugs. Vera takes anti-depressants towards the end of the film, and in one scene she seems to become addicted to them. She takes multiple pills and becomes ill. According to Beumers, “Vera attempts suicide, and is saved by her brother” (Beumers 207).  The film shows Vera drinking heavily, blasting music and taking multiple pills on her own.  I feel that she is just partying in excess and the suicide attempt is not planned.