BROTHER Social Situation for Russia’s Youth

Brother: An Overview Danila, a Russian youth who has just finished 2 years of conscripted military service, goes to St. Petersburg (Leningrad) in search of his older brother Viktor to find work. Viktor, a hitman, offers an assassination job to Danila to take out a Chechen mafia boss After Danila carries out this job, he is offered another job to kill another person. After waiting (and unable) to kill his target, he befriends one of the hostages and kills the other two assassins. Viktor’s boss becomes infuriated that his men are being killed on the job and seeks out revenge on Danila. They come for Sveta (the girl he is having a relationship with, and rape and beat her to try to figure out where Danila is. Afterwards, Danila realizes his own brother has turned on him, however, Danila forgives Viktor once he kills Viktor’s boss (Krugly) and his men.

Issues with Russian Youth as Depicted in “Brother” The film focuses on several conditions that Russia’s youth go through during the period following the first Chechen war. Economic depravity has caused the collapse of the Russian family and way of life Many of Russian’s youth (depicted as Kat) turn to sex, drugs, and crime, after facing intense poverty. The film depicts harsh economic conditions, homelessness, and the difficulties of finding a job with Russian’s youth.

Did Danila have a choice in Post-Soviet Russia on how to make his living, or was he seduced by easy brutality of that time? Coming out of the Army, it was difficult for Danila to maintain a job. He lived at home, and was sent off to St. Petersburg by his mother just to try to find a job. In the Post-Soviet climate, Danila had very, very little (to no) choice on how to make his living. A job that would bring in money was a job worth taking. In Danila’s case, it was working for his brother Viktor as an assassin. This led him into a life of crime, which, for many Russians during this time, was a path worth taking because that’s where the money was. For example, his first job was to take out a Chechen mafia boss, a job exemplifying the struggles between opposing crime groups.

Danila was seduced by the Brutality of his time. Families were split, poverty was rampant, and finding and keeping jobs were incredibly difficult. His assassination of a prominent crime lord as a “stable” is an example of just how the Brutality of his time forced him into finding work in unstable conditions. Viktor, his brother, was already consumed by this.

Is life hard, brutal, and short? Brother quickly shows how life during these times could be incredibly short. Several fellow assassins were killed just doing there job, and Danila was shot at several times throughout the movie. If it wasn’t for his CD Player, one of those shots could have killed him. The dangers portrayed with the gun battles (and the assassinations, and the powerful crimelords) shows the brutality of the time. Life was very hard, and could be very short if you were not careful.

Xenophobia Xenophobia (or the fear of foreigners and strangers) was incredibly common during this time, especially for Russian’s Youth. Youth commonly fled home, often leaving them stranded, homeless, and untrusting of anyone they encountered For example, when Danila met the German, he was cautious, expressed his disinterest in Germans and foreigners, and even expressed his dislike for the Jews. The fear of strangers and foreigners is a problem that not only plagued Russia’s Youth, but all of Russia.

Danila’s Society Danila is basically just a kid who wants to get drunk, get laid, and listen to his favorite rock band, like any ordinary kid his age in Russia, and like any ordinary kid here. However, he has an instinctive skill for violence (demonstrated by his assassinations, and cold blooded killings) These opposites in Danila depict a contemporary Russia. It shows the struggles that the Russian youth deal with every day. The Russian Youth want to party and have fun like anyone else, but are plagued by poverty, huge crime problems, and corruption.