There's a strong strand of historical recompense at play here, but it doesn't get in the way of some good, matter-of-fact and occasionally quite funny action. A link is made between modern-day gangsters and the latter-day soviet apparatchiks and their common exploitation of the Yakuts.
What sounds like Latin (but is probably Yakut) theme music punctuates much of the movie; neo-classical St Petersburg is beautiful in the snow.
Not as good as Balabanov's earlier works, but it's perhaps unfair to compare a more recent outing with those from 20 or so years ago.
Aleksey Balabanov RIP
Only very recently did I learn of the great director's passing.
My first sight his work was the wonderful Schastlivye dni/Happy Days (1991), in the small, black-painted brick auditorium of The Triskel, Cork in 1999, as part of their Cinematek slot. A perfect atmospheric downbeat existential drama, loosely based on Samuel Beckett's classic novella of the same name, beautifully and sensitively shot on B&W super 8, it was an immediately captivating first real glimpse at the interiors and exteriors of neoclassical continental Europe, there in the near-empty auditorium. It's hard not to get sentimental about that time, having finished university that Summer, recently moving to Cork, finding a job, and flat in an old house overlooking the city. Going back to my home town once a quarter rather than once a week. Seeing films like this and Judy Berlin...
When I registered an IMDB account some years later, the first thing I did was to award Shlavistni dni a vote of 10/10.
It's legally available for viewing online at mubi.com
Of Freaks and Men/Pro urodov i lyudey doesn't live up to its promising style and subject matter - mild S&M at the turn of C20 in upper class St. Petersburg, shot on sepia stock, but still worth a watch.
Brat (Brother, 1997) must rank alongside Fight Club as one of the greatest movies of the 1990's. The follow up Brat II (2000) was as or almost as good, rare it is that a sequel can match the quality of the original. No prisoners to political correctness, both films are cult cargo of the highest order, full of the best humour: that of the unintentional black variety. The great Sergey Bodrov starred as Danila Bagrov in both, his life tragically cut short aged just 30 by an avalanche on a filmset in 2002.
War/Voyna (2002) also starring Bodrov is less memorable but still watchable. Can't comment on any others of his back catalogue as I've not seen them, but would certainly like to explore more, earlier period in particular.
A true modern visionary and one of the most articulate European film makers of his time. Aleksey Balabanov, 1959–2013.
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