ARCC Anglo Russian culture club: ‘The Brother’ by Alexey Balabanov

Russian film club in the Rotherhithe, screening with introduction and discussion.

After finishing his military service, young Danila Bagrov (Sergey Bodrov ml.) seeks help from his older brother (Viktor Sukhorukov), a gangster in St. Petersburg, who puts him to work as a hired gun. Danila kills a Chechen crime boss and is wounded in the attack. He is pursued by the man’s cohorts and goes on the run, but finds time to enjoy the city’s nightlife and have some romantic adventures. However, as his new identity solidifies, Danila begins to question who he has become.

Directed by Alexei Balabanov and starring a young Sergey Bodrov as anti-hero Danila Bagrov, the bleak crime dramas Brother 1 and 2 — released in 1997 and 2000 respectively — achieved iconic status for a generation of Russians coming of age in the turbulent 1990s.