| Brother 2 | |
|---|---|
US Theatrical Poster |
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| Directed by | Aleksei Balabanov |
| Produced by | Sergei Selyanov |
| Written by | Aleksei Balabanov |
| Starring | Sergei Bodrov, Jr. Viktor Sukhorukov |
| Distributed by | STV Film Company |
| Release date(s) | 2000 |
| Running time | 122 min. |
| Country | Russia United States |
| Language | Russian, English, Ukrainian |
| Budget | US$1,500,000 |
| Box office | $1,080,000 |
Released in 2000, Brother 2 (Russian: Брат 2, translit. Brat 2) is the sequel to the groundbreaking 1997 post-Soviet crime film Brother. The story takes place about a year after the events that occurred in the first film.
Contents |
The film opens with Danila Bagrov (Sergey Bodrov) on a television show with two friends from the First Chechen war. All three friends now live in Moscow, and Ilya (Kirill Pirogov) is a professional programmer who works for the State Historical Museum on Red Square whilst Konstantin (Kostya) Gromov (Alexander Dyachenko) works in the security department for the Nikolayevsky Bank. Danila himself reveals his ambition to enroll in medicine at the university.
After the program, in the banya Kostya reveals to his friends that his twin brother Dmitry (also played by Dyachenko) is an ice hockey player for the Chicago Blackhawks and is being extorted by an American 'entrepreneur' Mr. Mennis (Gary Houston). Yet Mennis right now is in Moscow meeting Kostya's employer, the owner of the bank Valentin Belkin (Sergey Makovetsky) to discuss a business proposal.
Almost simultaneously in a different part of Russia, that same television program was watched by Danila's brother Viktor Bagrov (Viktor Sukhorukov) and their mother. Seeing as her older son has turned into a drinking militsiya sergeant, she sends him to Moscow to seek his brother there as his home life has brought little happiness to her.
While Danila begins an affair with a Russian pop-star Irina Saltykova (plays herself), Kostya approaches Belkin and pleads to remind Mennis about his brother. Belkin agrees, however Dmitry Gromov is of little concern to both as Belkin has investment interests in American companies, and needs Mennis's help to bypass the standing law which prohibits foreign capital. After the talk Mennis returns to Chicago. The importance of the new friendship with Mennis prompts Belkin to remove Kostya altogether.
That evening Danila stops at Kostya's apartment to discover his friend shot and sets out to avenge his friend. By the time Viktor arrives Danila and Ilya have stocked up arms and now set their sights on Belkin. During the visit at Belkin's son's gimnazia concert and posing first as a new teacher Danila confronts him alone, and threatening him finds out that the murder of Kostya was carried out on Mennis's orders. Belkin also reveals all he knows about Mennis and his illegal pornography operations in Chicago.
However Belkin refuses to let Danila off, and begins to track him, he first sends his thugs to the museum, but they arrive too late to catch Danila, Viktor and Ilya. Afterwards they spot the same stolen Volvo which Danila arrived at the gimnazia near the Kotelnicheskaya Embankment, where Saltykova lives. Warned by her chauffeur Boris the Bagrov brothers ambush the mobsters using a Russian M1910 Maxim taken in the Historical Museum to destroy their pursuers.
Afterwards the two brothers fly to America separately, and Belkin's attempts to intercept Danila to Chicago fail, even the Chicago-based Ukrainian mafia who Belkin alerted are not successful to catch him there. The reason being, Viktor is on the flight to Chicago whilst Danila instead lands in New York City where he travels to the Russian Jewish Brighton Beach community. There he buys a car to travel to Chicago by road, but it breaks down just outside Pennsylvania.
Stranded he is saved when a trucker Ben Johnson (Ray Toler) picks him up. Despite Danila's limited English, the two become close friends and on his way to Chicago, Ben shows Danila much about American life. Upon their arrival in Chicago, Ben offers Danila to pick up a prostitute, however the bald Marylin, turns out to be a Russian Dasha (Darya Lesnikova), who is owned by a Black American pimp.
Having determined that the bald man Viktor is a professional assassin Tatarin and that he was on board the flight to Chicago, Belkin warns Manis and alerts the Ukrainian mafia in Chicago to find him. Viktor meanwhile landing in the Ukrainian diaspora district in Chicago quickly begins to spend his money wisely and enjoy the American lifestyle and making tours of the city.
In Chicago Danila first attempts to meet up with Dmitry Gromov, but he is unable to catch him. Nor are his attempts to rendezvous with Viktor successful as Viktor is too much enjoying his life. Badly needing a translator he decides to find Dasha, and travels to the Black neighbourhood. Just before he can run away with her, he is savagely beaten by Dasha's pimp's henchmen. The Police let him go on the basis of recognizance and he gets revenge by tricking the same group who beat him up into selling him weapons, which he steals by subterfuge. Afterwards Dasha's pimp attempts to get even with her but is in turn killed by Danila.
Finally Viktor and Danila meet up and the three enjoy an evening campfire on the beach of Lake Michigan where they share their experiences and attitude towards American society. Dasha tells her story of how she came in the early 1990s as an exchange student, then worked in escort service in New York before finally degrading into a street hooker. Viktor on the other hand is much too impressed with the power of money that drives America. The evening is broken up by homeless black man stumbles across them and Danila called him in Russian negr what the black man considered as an insult nigger (however in Russian it is not an insult).
Afterwards Danila begins to finally move in against Mennis, and first hits his front Club Metro, expecting Mennis to be there he sneaks a weapon into the back of the club and then during a Rock concert evening involving Bi-2 he kills every member of Mennis's mafia he encounters in the basement but Mennis turns out to be absent. Viktor instead visits Ukrainian emigrants restaurants and is eventually found by the Ukrainian mafia members, and has to kill the hitman but not before learning of the mafia's operations.
The next morning Danila climbs 50 or so floors on a skyscraper's fire escape to reach Mennis's office. There he finally confronts him alone and after a strong statement makes Mennis to hand over the money he owed to Dmitry. After giving Dmitry his money, Danila sets off back home to Moscow, but accidentally drives via the Ukrainian neighbourhood where they becomes witnesses to a police siege around the former headquarters of the Ukrainian mafia after Viktor killed everyone inside. As he is dragged out handcuffed he shouts his intentions to stay in America.
The film ends with Danila and Dasha taking off to Moscow.
Just like the first film Brat-2 was an immense success. The film picked up on the changing attitudes of the Russian public in the late 1990s. It also shows the erosion of a common stereotype of the perfect West, which is seen as not so perfect. It shows the immense divide between the Black and White communities with the former ghettoised. Also it shows that just like in Russia, the high profile businessmen can have very criminal activities, too. One of the most powerful messages was the final confrontation when Danila asks Manis if money really gives one strength and power, and instead argues that strength and power can only be found in the truth.
At the same time, the film highlights the good America, but from a different perspective not in the façade of skyscrapers and the "American Dream", but in the American people who like in Russia come in all colours and social status, like the Black TV presenter Lisa Jeffrey who has a short affair with Danila and the trucker Ben who at the very end of the film, accepts an audio cassette with Russian music which the two listened whilst driving. Finally on humorous note the film carried across the message that hardships and people's discomfort with life exists everywhere as shown by the two complaining taxi drivers both in Moscow and in New York.
The film was however criticised for being too Russo-centric and in extreme cases the elements of racism and nationalism. For example the semi-criminal portrayal of the American Black community, the deceiving Russo-American Jew (who sells him a bad car) and the Ukrainian mafia. The latter in particular often refers to the toilet scene when Viktor finishes off in cold blood remarking: "You bitches will answer to me for Sevastopol!" referring to the sensitive topic on the ownership of that city. Ukrainians are also called banderovets by Viktor (e.g. when he arrives at the airport), what does not appear in English subtitles. Albeit, the listed scenes have clear humorous overtones.
In October 2009, the film received mention in a discussion of how the city of Chicago is perceived internationally.
The film's soundtrack consists of popular songs from modern Russian and Ukrainian rock artists, such as Splean, Bi-2, Zemfira, Smyslovye Gallyutsinatsii, Chicherina, Okean Elzy and Nautilus Pompilius. The pop-star Irina Saltykova being one of important characters, there are some her songs in the soundtrack. The latter is partly a reference to the soundtrack of the original "Brother", which consists entirely of Nautilus Pompilius' songs. The soundtrack includes "Lafayette" performed by American band Sleeping For Sunrise.