Brother (1997)

Recommended

Russia

Feature Film

Original Title: Брат

Writer/Director: Aleksey Balabanov

Cinematographer: Sergei Astakhov

Composer: Vyacheslav Butusov

Cast: Sergei Bodrov Jr., Viktor Sukhorukov, Svetlana Pismichenko, Mariya Zhukova, Yuri Kuznetsov, Vyacheslav Butusov, Irina Rakshina

A young but rather old fashioned man, recently demobbed from the army, goes to live in St. Petersburg with his brother, a low-level gangster, and becomes involved in the family business, but his personality – a strange mix of ruthlessness, compassion, and pride – soon gets him into trouble, in Balabanov’s low-key crime film, which features an excellent performance from Bodrov and provides an intriguing look at a society in the process of change. Iain.Stott