# Brother 2 (Брат 2)
**Brother 2** (Брат 2) is a 2000 Russian action-crime film written and directed by Aleksey Balabanov and the sequel to his 1997 film *[Brother](https://www.edgepedia.org/brother-1997-film)*. It follows the Chechen War veteran Danila Bagrov, played by Sergei Bodrov, who travels to the United States to settle the affairs of a murdered army friend, and it became one of the defining Russian films of its decade.[1](https://chapaev.media/films/brat-2) • [2](https://rusactors.ru/film/b/brat2/index.shtml)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | Aleksey Balabanov; producer Sergei Selianov, CTB Film Company[1](https://chapaev.media/films/brat-2) |
| Premiere | 11 May 2000 in Russia[2](https://rusactors.ru/film/b/brat2/index.shtml) |
| Format and length | 35 mm film, 125 minutes[1](https://chapaev.media/films/brat-2) |
| Lead cast | Sergei Bodrov as Danila Bagrov; Viktor Sukhorukov as Viktor Bagrov (voiced by Aleksey Polyan); Sergei Makovetsky as Belkin[2](https://rusactors.ru/film/b/brat2/index.shtml) |
| Filming locations | Russia, Ukraine, and the United States[3](https://7days.ru/kino/articles/filmu-brat-2-25-let-kak-balabanov-snimal-glavnoe-kino-v-svoey-karere.htm) |
| Award | Luna Papa, directed by Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov, won the Golden Rose at the Kinotavr festival, 2000[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/brat_2_2000) • [15](https://www.newlookmedia.ru/?p=46833) |
| Standing | A commercial sequel that acquired cult status and a lasting place in post-Soviet popular culture[5](https://www.moscowartmagazine.com/article/1890) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Danila Bagrov comes to the Ostankino television center in Moscow to take part in a program about the war in Chechnya, where he meets his former army comrades. One of them, Konstantin Gromov, is soon killed.[16](https://www.domkino.tv/announce/5454) Danila learns that the dead man had been in trouble because of his twin brother, a hockey player playing for an American club, and he sets out for the United States to sort matters out; his older brother Viktor (Viktor Sukhorukov) travels with him.[1](https://chapaev.media/films/brat-2)
In America Danila confronts corruption, cruelty, and racism, and acts in his own way throughout. The cast also includes Irina Saltykova playing herself, Sergei Makovetsky as Belkin, Aleksandr Dyachenko as the Gromov twins, and Darya Yurgens as Marilyn-Dasha.[2](https://rusactors.ru/film/b/brat2/index.shtml) • [3](https://7days.ru/kino/articles/filmu-brat-2-25-let-kak-balabanov-snimal-glavnoe-kino-v-svoey-karere.htm)
## Production
Balabanov wrote the screenplay, and Sergei Selianov produced for the CTB studio; the cinematographer was Sergei Astakhov and the sound director Maxim Belovolov.[1](https://chapaev.media/films/brat-2) Shooting took place in Russia, Ukraine, and the United States.[3](https://7days.ru/kino/articles/filmu-brat-2-25-let-kak-balabanov-snimal-glavnoe-kino-v-svoey-karere.htm) On location in America, Balabanov sought greater realism on screen and asked Black extras to hit harder; local residents, contrary to expectations, treated the crew peacefully, and one of them proved to be a fan of the first *Brother* film.[6](https://www.kinoafisha.info/movies/8125705/)
Balabanov cast the pop singer Irina Saltykova saying that every man dreams of a romance with a blonde, and that he had found no more expressive candidate for the role; other post-Soviet pop stars, among them Alena Sviridova, had earlier been considered.[7](https://www.kinopoisk.ru/media/article/4001508/) Work on the film was finished in 1999, with the premiere following in 2000.[8](https://www.mk.ru/culture/2014/09/30/v-chem-sila-brata2.html)
## Reception and controversy
The film opened on 11 May 2000 and immediately became an event. One magazine wrote that "Balabanov managed to create a myth, but the price of the myth is simplification." In the post-Soviet space the picture was praised for its honesty and energy, while later commentary drew attention to its racial stereotypes and everyday chauvinism.[3](https://7days.ru/kino/articles/filmu-brat-2-25-let-kak-balabanov-snimal-glavnoe-kino-v-svoey-karere.htm) At the 2000 Kinotavr festival, Luna Papa, directed by Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov, received the [Golden Rose](https://www.edgepedia.org/golden-rose) award.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/brat_2_2000) • [15](https://www.newlookmedia.ru/?p=46833)
**Anti-Americanism.** The film's blunt portrayal of the United States became its most debated feature. At a New York festival of Russian film, Dimitrii Piorunskii commented that the filmmakers' union felt uneasy because *Brother 2* is, in fact, an anti-American film; the same account notes that the film incorporates visual images and themes from Stalinist cinema while maintaining certain Soviet traditions in post-Soviet Russia.[9](https://rusfilm-old.pitt.edu/2001/brat.html) A contemporary commentary in the journal *Iskusstvo kino* described the film as a Hollywood-style sequel that claims cult status, and noted the split between its enthusiastic reception in nationalist-leaning press such as the newspaper *Zavtra* and hostile reviews in pro-Western intellectual publications.[5](https://www.moscowartmagazine.com/article/1890) The producer Sergei Selianov's statement that "this film may be more important for the country than the 1999 budget" was cited as evidence that it functioned as a deliberate ideological project.[5](https://www.moscowartmagazine.com/article/1890)
Foreign festival commentary was more measured. Peter Hames, writing for the London International Film Festival in 2000, called it a highly accomplished genre work whose humor takes on both Russian and American obsessions, noting that the film suggests collusion between the criminal world and business and parallels Russian structures with those in the USA, which Viktor calls "much more powerful" because "that is where the money is."[10](https://www.nziff.co.nz/2001/archive/brother-2/)
## Cultural significance
Sociologists of cinema read the film as a portrait of its moment. A retrospective essay marking twenty years since the release argued that against the confusion of the Yeltsin decade, both Balabanov *Brother* films offered a hard, coherent picture of the world, a maximally clear scheme for explaining what was happening.[11](https://kinoart.ru/reviews/bogatye-znamenitye-inorodtsy-amerikantsy-vragi-brat-2-kak-portret-pervogo-putinskogo-pokoleniya) A HSE scholar of screen culture described *Brother 2* as a symbol of the awakening of national pride after the 1990s, when Russian popular culture had largely followed Western models, and connected its heroes' habit of speaking with Western partners from a position of strength to the political mood that soon brought [Vladimir Putin](https://www.edgepedia.org/vladimir-putin) to power.[12](https://25.hse.ru/2000/pavlov)
**Soundtrack.** Music is central to the film's identity. A study of the soundtrack in the monograph *Big Format* argues that a film with a reputation as openly anti-American cinema is in fact a very personal declaration of the director's love of America, analyzed through the original content of the songs, their interaction with the visuals, and the plot.[13](https://publications.hse.ru/pubs/share/direct/316256556.pdf) Contemporary commentary counted fans of Zemfira and of the then-rising group Bi-2 among the film's intended audience.[14](https://old.kinoart.ru/archive/2000/08/n8-article2)
**Aftermath.** The director and the lead actor both spoke of a possible continuation, but in September 2002 Sergei Bodrov died in the Karmadon gorge, and no third film was made.[7](https://www.kinopoisk.ru/media/article/4001508/) The film, shot on celluloid, was later transferred to digital format; producer Sergei Selianov, together with Gosfilmofond of Russia, has been digitizing Balabanov's entire creative legacy, and the digitized *Brother 2* was first shown at the Korocher festival in [Kaliningrad](https://www.edgepedia.org/kaliningrad).[8](https://www.mk.ru/culture/2014/09/30/v-chem-sila-brata2.html)
## References
1. [Брат 2, Чапаев.media film database](https://chapaev.media/films/brat-2)
2. [Брат-2, Актеры советского и российского кино](https://rusactors.ru/film/b/brat2/index.shtml)
3. [Фильму «Брат 2» — 25 лет: как Балабанов снимал главное кино в своей карьере, 7Дней.ру](https://7days.ru/kino/articles/filmu-brat-2-25-let-kak-balabanov-snimal-glavnoe-kino-v-svoey-karere.htm)
4. [Brother 2 (2000), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/brat_2_2000)
5. [Д. Виленский. «Брат-2» как симптом новой ситуации, Художественный журнал](https://www.moscowartmagazine.com/article/1890)
6. [Брат 2 (2000), Киноафиша](https://www.kinoafisha.info/movies/8125705/)
7. [«Брату 2» — 20 лет: как сделан и на что повлиял главный российский сиквел, Кинопоиск](https://www.kinopoisk.ru/media/article/4001508/)
8. [В чем сила «Брата-2»? Виктор Сухоруков и Сергей Сельянов, Московский комсомолец](https://www.mk.ru/culture/2014/09/30/v-chem-sila-brata2.html)
9. [Brother 2, Russian Film Symposium, University of Pittsburgh](https://rusfilm-old.pitt.edu/2001/brat.html)
10. [Brother 2, New Zealand International Film Festival 2001](https://www.nziff.co.nz/2001/archive/brother-2/)
11. [Богатые, знаменитые, инородцы, американцы — враги: «Брат 2» как портрет первого путинского поколения, Искусство кино](https://kinoart.ru/reviews/bogatye-znamenitye-inorodtsy-amerikantsy-vragi-brat-2-kak-portret-pervogo-putinskogo-pokoleniya)
12. [Выходит фильм «Брат-2» — Год в истории: 2000, НИУ ВШЭ](https://25.hse.ru/2000/pavlov)
13. [Большой формат: экранная культура в эпоху трансмедийности. Часть 3, Государственный институт искусствознания](https://publications.hse.ru/pubs/share/direct/316256556.pdf)
14. [Братва. «Брат-2», режиссер Алексей Балабанов, Искусство кино, 2000](https://old.kinoart.ru/archive/2000/08/n8-article2)
15. [ЗОЛОТУЮ РОЗУ ВЗЯЛ “ЛУННЫЙ ПАПА” : - © Газета «Музыкальная правда» - 22 - Издательский Дом «Новый Взгляд» - Издательский Дом «Новый Взгляд» -](https://www.newlookmedia.ru/?p=46833)
16. [Брат-2 - 2000: актеры, рейтинг и отзывы на канале Дом кино](https://www.domkino.tv/announce/5454)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Action, thriller, and crime series film entries › Entries released in the 2000s › Released 2000 to 2004*
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