Surprisingly, since Mirror there have been very few films in the class that I enjoyed thoroughly. I had begun to despair that the rest of the films would be just as gritty as Little Vera or just as frustrating as The Commissar. What came as even more of a surprise, however, was that the film Brother revived my hope in Russian cinema. Who would have guessed that a Russian mob flick would do the trick. I felt that it was slightly gritty as well, but also filled with characters who had depth and were overall, despite all their actions, remembered as good people.
Aleksei Balabanov, the director of Brother, created a film with one of the most interesting protagonists that I have seen in quite awhile. The most interesting aspect of Danila, the main character, is his incredible ability to care for people he doesn't even know, but then kill the next minute. It was odd, because during the entire movie I rooted for Danila. I wanted for him to succeed, and I even began to feel attached to his character. Perhaps its because I watched Batman Begins last night, but I felt that when he killed it was almost for vengeance. He did strike me as a comic book character, but only because he had this odd way of helping others out. When he shot people, I think I realized in the back of my mind that I shouldn't justify his actions, but it seemed like everytime he was forced to, in order to save his brother.
The mercy he shows to multiple people in the film seems to make the viewer know that he's not a bad guy, and that he's killing out of necessity.
The other character who kept surprising me was Danila's lover, Sveta. At the end of the movie, when she decided to stay with her husband rather than leave him for Danila, I was shocked. However it served as just another example of someone in the movie who makes many mistakes (she does cheat on her husband) but in the end his or her good deed is what's remembered.
It was intersting that despite the fact that Danila lived in a town where crimes were rampant and the mob was continously on the rise, he was able to maintain some of his values, while on the other side of the spectrum, Vera's boyfriend in Little Vera grows up in a city that isn't half as bad, and yet maintains no values. Perhaps the hope for the future was able to help Danila maintain his decent guy status.
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3 comments:
I agree--Danila and Sveta are much more complex (and simply far different) types of characters from what one might expect in a "mob flick" (which I think is what *Brother* is only on the surface). I would add Nemets ("German") to the mix as well.
To be honest, I had resisted seeing *Brother* for the longest time after it first came out because I simply assumed it was going to be a mindless action flick. It really took a lot of effort to get me to slip it into my player--but man, what an amazing surprise it all turned out to be!
Ugh, I resent the implication that "comic book" characters lack realistic motivations.
But I agree that the complex characters make the work. I feel that maybe the reason that Danila can go from helping a stranger one minute to killing one (or several) the next is that in this world of moral gray areas, he sees it as black and white. He knows what's really good and really bad....maybe that's why we see him on the road at the end; a road covered in white snow...
In response to Carmelo, don't worry. I understand that many comic book characters become who they are because they are motivated. Peter Parker wanted to avenge Uncle Ben and Bruce Wayne wanted to avenge his parents.
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