Brother

This was an awesome movie to say the least. I really like to watch mobster movies so I felt right at home with this one. It has been an interesting journey watching movies in Russian Cinema that have depicted the peak of the Soviet Union, to the beginning of the Thaw. This movie captures the essence of the complete demise of socialist realism. There is no propaganda in this film that would make you think about communism or equality among the public. I really felt like I was watching a movie that was made in the U.S. This is very significant because this means that the director's in Russia at the time were beginning to embody the ideas of west a bit more than a few years earlier. While this is definitely a mobster movie, it didn't scream, "The Godfather" to me. The closest genre I can relate this film to is a western. Danila reminded me of a vigilante who was out to save his brother at all costs. With his military background, the feat seemed like a walk in the park to him. His actions seemed almost effortless and without failure. Everything went according to plan, which happens in most western movies. The protagonist always saves the girl, but in this case, the person that needed saving was Danila's older brother, Viktor.

One interesting aspect to Danila's character is that he is always listening his walkman. At first I wasn't sure why, but as the movie continued, It seemed to me that the Walkman had symbolic meaning. Danila's life has had its ups and downs and it doesn't seem like he has had a lot of control with its outcome. To me, the Walkman is something that is constant in his life. He can control the songs at will and it gives him a chance to take his mind off of things. After his Walkman was destroyed, I noticed the theme of the movie shifted. It wasn't Danila who needed saving anymore, it was his brother. It was at this moment where we saw Danila finally take matters into his own hands and take control of the situation. 

As for the time period in which the film took place, there was a considerable difference between the 80s and the 90s. St. Petersburg had become a hotbed for crime whereas ten years earlier, people seemed to be content by their new freedom of expressing opinions in public. Now, their actions seemed to have taken a turn for the worst. While many people did not turn to crime as a result of the Thaw, many took advantage of  the western ideologies that were pouring into Russia and translated them into crime without thinking about the consequences. I thought this movie did a great job portraying this and I am looking forward to continuing this historic journey through Russian Cinema on Monday.