Folk Elements in Aleksei Balabanov’s Brat and Brat 2: A Morphological Analysis

Abstract The article uses Vladimir Propp’s Morphology of the Folktale (Морфолоƨuя сказкu, 1928) as a framework to illustrate the way in which Aleksei Balabanov masterfully creates a modern folk tale using classic motifs and structures in his 1997 film Brother (Браm, Russia) and its sequel Brother 2 (Браm 2, Russia, 2000). The paper argues that Brother and Brother 2 are post-Soviet retellings of classic tales of Russian folklore and that Danila is a modern hero, an unlikely saviour of the Russian nation and the Russian soul. Danila’s journey is formulaic, predictable and straightforward, yet nevertheless makes for a powerfully new take on concepts of Russian nationalism and heroism. The underworld to which our hero must journey is located in the heart of Russia’s ‘Peter’, and possession of the Russian nation and soul are the object of his quest in the volatile post-Soviet period.