Brother

I loved seeing the gritty, faded glory of St. Petersburg in Brother which was especially contrasted after just having watched Russian Ark. The layers of wallpaper in the apartments seemed to represent the different era of Russian history and the chaos of the present situation. The contrast because luxury and poverty and representation of the inequality of life in St. Petersburg was also interesting, with the harshness of the streets juxtaposed with the marble entrance of Danila's brothers apartment. Another interesting element were the tapestries hanging above the beds in Danila and his girlfriend's apartment. Next to the more modern furnishing and rock posters the reproduction antique tapestries again seemed to indicate a reference to the old Russia with the new. Besides those few observations it was Danila, the main character in this film that held my attention - another testament to the fact that people always like the good bad guys. Danila's character in Brother reminds me of a contemporary Russian version of James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause as they both are representative of the disillusionment of a generation caught in a changing culture.

+ Brother 2 on Wikipedia
+ Nautilus Pompililius
+ NY Times on Sergei Bodrov Jr.'s death