The new king of the Russian crime flick
Over the past 15 years Aleksei Balabanov has turned out a mightily impressive series of Russian mob movies. In fact he has done for the post Soviet Russian mob what Scorsese has done for the Italian American mafia. Most have an element of black comedy not unlike the Sopranos, where the killers can't wait for a good feed after a massacre. All of Balabanov's movies capture something of the violent and anarchic side of post-Soviet Russian society filled with ex-soldiers and villains to whom life is cheap. The best known of his films is probably Brat (Brother) 1997, and its equally cracking sequel Brat 2. The women are all bleached blondes and the men are in shell suits packing serious weaponry straight from front line Chechnya. In fact all his characters have that devil may care impulsiveness that comes from having survived the hard core conditions of Russian army life. If you haven't seen any of his movies, now is the time. Blind Man's Bluff (2005) is brilliant, so is Cargo 200 (2007) is his period drama Morphine (2008). All are great. This guy should be considered up there with Tarantino and Scorsese. Highly recommended!
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BRAT 2
