hapoel_ta2004

Apparently Brat 2 was one of the most popular Russian movies of all time. Unfortunately that little statistic tells more about contemporary Russians than the film itself. While many American action flicks suffer from an overload of clichés, Brat 2 is an action film (if it can be called that) with an overload of mean spirited clichés. It basically caters to the very large segment of Russian population that believes that having racist ideas and expressing them is OK. It shows a great number of very simplistic clichés and stereotypes about the United States, Blacks, Russia, Jews, etc. It glorifies the Russian stereotypical traits of rudeness, self righteousness, selfishness, vulgarity, etc. The positive traits (caring for one's own people) are presented in a very unconvincing manner. When the hero meets a Russian woman, he shows care for her but due to bad acting and bad storytelling, this event lacks any kind of emotional impact. Aside from racism, nationalism, populism etc., the film is also guilty of exceptionally bad film making. The pacing is very bad, making action sequences seem bland and boring compared to American action film (which are often boring and repetitive in their own right). The reasons why the characters behave in a certain way are told - not shown. Relationships pack absolutely no emotional punch - When a character refers to someone as a brother we are supposed to understand he cares about them, but nothing else is shown to make the relationship plausible. The plot structure itself is incoherent and quite idiotic, with people behaving in completely unbelievable ways throughout the film.

Overall, the movie is a work of a racist, a poor film maker, a poor writer (same person) with poor camera people, poor editors and poor actors. It is fake through out, substituting cheap clichés for meaning. 20 years from now people in Russia will watch this movie, having a hard time to believe these types of movies were popular in Russia. If Russia wants its own "Birth of a Nation," it should at least make its racist epic a better movie.

In case it is relevant: I'm Russian, studied film, and live in America. I'm not offended by negative portrayals of Russians or Americans, I'm offended by idiocy, bad film making, and substituting clichés for substance.