Brother

Brother was in my opinion, a good gangster film. It didn't dance around the truth, and it definitely got straight to the point. I enjoyed this film, mostly because Danila was such an interesting character. He was passionate about a few things, as you mentioned music for one, other things including the notion of "a brother" and keeping his word.

Danila to me served as a vigilante in this film. He obviously was committing crimes by killing off many people, yet it was for the good of the city. Killing off people is not good and should not be approved, but we have to somewhat accept that what he is doing will lead to a better future. By working at HQ, he must have picked up a few things, because he was very skillful with guns and inventing new things out of them. His brother, Viktor, seemed very sure of himself at first. Although throughout the movie, his antics became more spastic and unsure. He definitely didn't know how good Danila was at the assignments he gave him until the middle of the film.

I found it funny, non-purposely, that every time someone referred to Danila as "brother", he denied that they were indeed "brothers". This to me had a lot of significance, probably because Danila took it so seriously. He knew he didn't need anyone else in the world, and he definitely did not want to get close to anyone. He was on a mission for his blood brother, and he would have nothing change that. He was indeed well suited for the mob crimes, but when he knew that he was done in St. Petersburg, he knew he would move onto bigger and better things in Moscow.

Personally, I did not care for Sveta. She was obviously cheating on her husband, yet actually cared when Danila shot her husband. She annoyed me the most out of anyone in the movie. Kat was funny, a typical party girl who lives in the moment. I think she represented the spontaneity in Danila, and brought it out in him. He seemed to always want to try something at least once, and she fueled that interest. It was funny when he called the American music bad as well, because he was so into his own style.

Last but not least, I thought this movie brought out the REALITY in what was happening in Russia in the 90s. It was obviously ridden with crime, and it just seemed more real. It made me think deeper, like what if our society is this bad and we just don't see it?