Rethinking the post Soviet Russian hero Alexei Balabanovs

Rethinking the post. Soviet Russian hero: Alexei Balabanov's films

Aleksei Balabanov (b. 1959 in Sverdlovsk) n n Educated as translator (1981) Served in the Army in 1982 -84. Took part in the Afgan war Graduated from the High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors (1990) Directed several controversial but popular films

Director of disquieting films

Selected controversial but popular films by Balabanov: - Brother (Брат) (1997) Of Freaks and Men (1998) Brother-2 (Брат-2) (2000) War (2002) Zhmurki (2005) I Feel No Pain (2006) Cargo 200 (Груз 200) (2007) Morphine (2008)

Brother (1997, drama/action) Zhmurki (2005, comedy) Both deal with theme of killers

Of Freaks and Men (1998) Theme: pornography in the 1900 s; Sepia colours imitate early photographs

Morphine (2008) (based on stories by Mikhail Bulgakov)

Sergei Bodrov Jr. (1971 -2002), “hero of our time” n n n Son of a film director Ph. D in Art History Iconic actor of late 1990 s, star of Balabanov’s films Talk show host Film director Died Sept. 20, 2002: buried by a glacier in the Caucasus, along with the whole crew, while directing a film.

Sergei Bodrov’s selected filmography: Actor: n n n Prisoner of the Caucasus (1996) (dir. Sergei Bodrov, snr) Brother (1997) (dir. Aleksei Balabanov) Est-Ouest (1999) (dir. Régis Wargnier) Brother II (2000) (dir. Aleksei Balabanov) War (2002) Other: n Sisters (2001) Director n Morphine (2008) (dir. Aleksei Balabanov) Scriptwriter

Sergei Bodrov’s character Danila Bagrov: the new / old Russian hero, Brother n n Common man: ex-soldier, orphan, poor mother, friends with bums and street girls. Restores justice, stands up for the wronged, fights evil “others” (Chechens, black pimps in Chicago, Ukrainian mafia). “Ivan the fool” of Russian folktales– chains of fortunate chances, obstacles overcome. Cyber folk tale, like computer game – kills opponents to get to bag of money; gets help from unexpected quarters (allies include the long-distance truck driver). Random problems quickly solved.

Brothers (Brother, 1997)

Sergei Bodrov in Brat (1997) Dmitri Diuzhev in I Feel No Pain (2006)