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Aleksei Oktyabrinovich Balabanov (1959-2013)



"People have always watched and will watch films about bandits."

Filmography

Features
Nastya and Egor [documentary] (1989)
Schastlivye dni AKA Happy Days (1991)
Zamok AKA The Castle (1994)
Brat AKA Brother (1997)
Pro urodov i lyudey AKA Of Freaks and Men (1998)
Brat 2 AKA Brother 2 (2000)
Peka AKA The River (2002)
Voina AKA War (2002)
Zhmurki AKA Dead Man's Bluff (2005)
Mne ne bolno AKA It Doesn't Hurt Me (2006)
Gruz 200 AKA Cargo 200 (2007)
Morphia AKA Morphine (2008)
The Stoker (2010)
Me Too (2012)

Shorts
"Ranshe bylo drugoe vremya" AKA "There Used to be Another Time" (1987)
"U menya net druga" AKA "One Step Beyond" (1988)
"From the History of Aerostatics in Russia" [documentary] (1989)
"Trofim" [segment from Pribytie Poezda] (1995)

Web Resources
"Wild West? Nyet, St. Petersburg" by Stephen Holden, The New York Times (1998)
"Russia's Gray Underbelly" by Gregory Freidin, The Film Watch (2007)
"Fade to Black: Remembering Controversial Director Aleksei Balabanov" by Seth Graham, The Calvert Journal (2013)
"Aleksei Balabanov, 'The Castle' (1994)" by John Mackay and Henry Sussman, Feedback (2015)
"1997: Brother (Aleksei Balabanov)" by John Mackay, Senses of Cinema (2017)
"The Power of the Weak" by Maria Kuvshinova, InRussia (2018)

repeat wrote:Couldn't find a thread for Balabanov, guess I might as well start one:

Kochegar (aka A Stoker) is getting a belated UK theatrical release courtesy of Edinburgh Filmhouse, apparently a first time for them. Here's hoping they'll branch out to home video as well!

How come it seems that Balabanov has fallen off everyone's radar after Cargo 200? I think he's one of the instantly recognizable personal voices in contemporary cinema - Me Too was great, one of last years best in my book.

I can't speak for his international reputation, but the last Balabanov film to get non-festival exposure in the UK was War a full decade ago - and the only others have been Of Freaks and Men and the two Brother films, all pre-2001. And I'm pretty sure that only Freaks and the first Brother managed theatrical releases.

In fact, when I reviewed The Stoker for Sight & Sound, I deliberately namechecked much of his back catalogue to emphasise how much we hadn't seen. Handily, The Stoker is probably the best of his films with which to carry out that kind of exercise, as it almost feels like a greatest hits compilation at times! (And while interviewing Balabanov a few years back was one of my less pleasant Q&A experiences, it was good to be able to put my extensive homework to good use - I've seen virtually all his films bar Me Too, including the ultra-obscure The River, which has strong links to The Stoker).

I'm not sure either, but I have the impression his last three films (Morphia, Stoker and Me Too) haven't been around the world much, even on the festival circuit; Me Too screened in Venice last year and got some good reviews (Neil Young for one deemed it one of the best films on offer there).

MUBI has a bunch of his films available for streaming (at least in Europe and the UK), including the aforementioned River and his debut Happy Days (both of these unfortunately in rather terrible quality) and the excellent It Doesn't Hurt, which (like The River) is recommended viewing for those who think they have him pigeonholed on the basis of Cargo 200 - it's in the same totally original free-form buddy-movie mode as Me Too, complete with his totally nuts use of Leonid Fedorov's music, which I imagine will drive a lot of people up the wall (I love it).

The last I saw was Morphia, which is simply fantastic. Almost as bleak as Cargo 200 (i.e. about as bleak as any film that isn't Cargo 200 can get), but also a superbly evocative period piece. I wasn't particularly impressed by the earlier works of his that I'd seen (The Brothers), but those two films alone make him one of the most interesting working filmmakers for me.

zedz wrote:The last I saw was Morphia, which is simply fantastic. Almost as bleak as Cargo 200 (i.e. about as bleak as any film that isn't Cargo 200 can get)

Well, yeah - I think he's acquired a rather intimidating reputation on the basis of those films. The Russian DVD for Morphia even has a warning on the cover saying "Attention, naturalistic scenes not recommended for people with weak psyches" (or something to that effect). But he's versatile - I haven't managed to see all his films yet, but so far no two have been alike (each other, or anything else for that matter). I remember quite liking the original Brother but that was a long time ago, should watch it again.

For a taste of his "other" style, see if you can stream It Doesn't Hurt, although I'm afraid I've spoiled the surprise already.

zedz wrote:The last I saw was Morphia, which is simply fantastic. Almost as bleak as Cargo 200 (i.e. about as bleak as any film that isn't Cargo 200 can get), but also a superbly evocative period piece.

It was a very bizarre experience watching the recent four-part series The Young Doctor's Notebook with Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm, as it was the same source material played much more for laughs.

Incidentally, if you haven't seen Of Freaks and Men, I think that's still my favourite Balabanov by a whisker (although it was my first, which might explain that). Although I remember that the friend I was with at the Edinburgh Film Festival hated it!

Getting back to The Stoker, the trailer gives a pretty good impression of what you're in for. It's tempting to assume that the wildly incongruous music is some kind of temporary track laid down by a tone-deaf trailer editor, but it really is like that, more or less all the way through, including being laid over important dialogue scenes.

He's one director whose continued obscurity in the West is completely confounding: there was some hype for him back in the day for Brat and Of Freaks and Men, but since then, nothing, even though his films have only gotten better. If I recall, Cargo 200 was eventually put out by a small book-publisher here in the States, of all things, when it seems like a no brainer in a world where people like Haneke and Noe still get the art-house red-carpet treatment.

Perhaps a Tartan casualty? This and Morphia were right up their alley before they folded, and there hasn't been any "big" distributor to fill up that gap, except for perhaps Drafthouse Film's recent ascendancy.

I think part of the problem is that Balabanov is just a bit too unpredictable, unlike those two guys - it might be exactly this comparative lack of "seriousness" that makes him a bit difficult to market. I can't really see any of the recent films fitting snugly in any respectable "arthouse / world cinema" catalogue (like Artifical Eye's or NWF's). If Tartan could have continued, they might have been able to build a more substantial Western fanbase for him. We'll see what happens with A Stoker in the UK: Moviemail has highlighted the cinema release on their site.

Cold Bishop wrote:Perhaps a Tartan casualty? This and Morphia were right up their alley before they folded, and there hasn't been any "big" distributor to fill up that gap, except for perhaps Drafthouse Film's recent ascendancy.

Possibly, but there was a big gap between the release of War and Tartan folding. But I agree that Cargo 200 in particular would have been a natural for them, and I'm surprised that no-one else picked it up.

Incidentally, some of the old Tartan staff ended up at the BFI, but with a different remit - I'm not sure Balabanov would have fitted into their plans. In fact, you can see this in the Flipside line-up - it's the same sensibility behind the acquisition of Balabanov's work, but applied to British or quasi-British material.

repeat wrote:We'll see what happens with A Stoker in the UK: Moviemail has highlighted the cinema release on their site.

It's also one of the lead reviews in the current Sight & Sound - and it was commissioned as a lead review from the off. Normally I write the 600-word version and am then told at the last minute that it's been bumped up to a lead, so could I expand it to 1,500 with a few hours' notice?

The Stoker is showing at the Curzon Renoir from Saturday the 25th. Though at this time, it is only listed as having two screenings in total.

Edit.

Also screening three times at the ICA, though unfortunately in screen 2.

Well, I had to review it off Vimeo, so that's still a hefty upgrade.

Shockingly, just three days after this thread was started, Balabanov has died of a heart attack at the age of just 54.

Jesus, this hit hard - was just planning to (re)watch his films chronologically, inspired by this conversation... Truly saddening

BBC news item here.

...and the BFI has just published my Sight & Sound review of The Stoker on their website.

I suspect they were going to do it anyway, given that the film's opening this week, but it's now become something of an obituary.

Incidentally, I'm slightly puzzled as to the spoiler warning that they've slapped on it - I actually bent over backwards not to reveal the big mid-point plot development, so I can only assume that the subs thought that mentioning

Spoiler

that the furnace is topped up with fresh human corpses

was some big revelation. But it's actually given away in the trailer and the opening scene, so it's hardly a major spoiler!

Well yes, it's pretty clear from the onset that Kochegar is not only using cokes to keep his furnace going, so how that constitutes a spoiler is completely beyond me. Some day, this obsession with spoilers will be the end of movie reviewing. How is one supposed to discuss films if giving in to people who haven't watched the damn thing is the only thing we care for. (not blaming anyone, but it's patently absurd)

Anyway, the news of Balabanov's passing is a rather unfortunate reason to boost this topic (not that Balabanov deserves any less). I'm not quite sure why his films had so little exposure outside Russia. His unpredictability might certainly be a factor, but in the case of The Stoker, it didn't seem like such a difficult sell to me, much easier than Cargo 200 (although this one might have pulled in the horror crowd attracted by its much more out there 'extreme' nature). As far as I can see, only Cargo 200 got a very limited release over here (and maybe the two Brothers, I didn't check). But all of his last five films were shown in IFF Rotterdam, and The Stoker was even screened in Pathé 1, the biggest venue (and the biggest screen) of the whole festival, so obviously, it wasn't for a lack of effort.

Michael's review of The Stoker captures its tone and atmosphere pretty well, I think, and especially nice to see its distinctive soundtrack and music cues are highlighted. These borderline absurd music cues during the character's journeys in the tram, or during their walks from and to their apartments gave the proceedings an almost hypnotic rhythm, an operatic quality for most of its dialog-less scenes. Definitely one of my little pleasures when watching it.

Me Too might be his most ambitious and spiritual effort yet, but I found the whole journey somewhat less engaging and satisfying than his previous efforts. The film's characters did seem more like enigmatic ciphers than people worth taking this journey with, and some of its early scenes felt extremely drawn out, without really delivering any pay-off or set-up for the next steps, so much so it more resembled Wenders' early road movies than anything else (which is not a bad thing perse, but it's definitely not a film that plays with longueur, maybe it would have worked better if it was twice as long). Of course, we're still inevitably heading for the abyss, it just lacked the elegant flow or drive I knew from his earlier films.

Spoiler

And it's Stalker-like transition into a netherworld, when the film suddenly switches its springtime setting to the freezing depths of winter seemed a bit too obvious in all its symbolism (or whatever Balabanov's tale of redemption might have to offer in this department).

.
But to be honest, maybe I just didn't quite grasp what Balabanov was going for here. It does seem like a film that might significantly improve upon second (or third) viewing. Maybe I should just give it another shot.

Camera Obscura wrote:Well yes, it's pretty clear from the onset that Kochegar is not only using cokes to keep his furnace going, so how that constitutes a spoiler is completely beyond me. Some day, this obsession with spoilers will be the end of movie reviewing. How is one supposed to discuss films if giving in to people who haven't watched the damn thing is the only thing we care for. (not blaming anyone, but it's patently absurd)

To be fair, I don't know that that's specifically what they're referring to, and there's every likelihood that the sub-editor who added that spoiler warning hadn't seen the film and so jumped to conclusions.

On the other hand, while it's pretty much impossible to write a 1,500-word review in a journal-of-record publication like Sight & Sound without at least revealing some narrative elements, I bent over backwards not to betray the big mid-point surprise, namely:

Spoiler

that the stoker ends up incinerating his own daughter, and recognises her distinctive shoe in the process.

...which seemed only fair. Obviously, I do hint at it, otherwise I couldn't discuss the final act at all, but I do leave open the possibility that something else might happen.

Fucking hell! All the more sad because, even though he already proved himself as a great filmmaker, I've always sensed he was on the verge of hitting his real stride. Anybody know if he was working on anything when he passed?

Great article on The Stoker, MichaelB - and a nice job of namechecking so much of his career in a relatively short piece. I'd be surprised if that didn't perk a few people's interest!

Cold Bishop wrote:All the more sad because, even though he already proved himself as a great filmmaker, I've always sensed he was on the verge of hitting his real stride.

My thoughts exactly - or more precisely I was anxious to see which way his style would develop - it's hard to swallow that we'll never get to know now

According to this article (in Russian) he was preparing a film about Stalin's rogue activities in Georgia in the first decade of the 20th century (he organized bank robberies, kidnappings etc.)

Here's a nice little interview on Me Too (also in Russian - Google Translate handles it well). Apparently it was a very personal project indeed. His funny cameo at the very end of that film acquires an unexpected resonance now that he's gone...

Edit: Just read his last interview for Vechernaya Moskva - it seems that he really was seriously ill and knew he wouldn't be around for long. The header quote says "I want to go to paradise to see my father"; later on he says he has the feeling that "there won't be any more Aleksei Balabanov films, although I have written a script and I think it's quite good".

Is the Kino-lorber release of Brother the only one? It's from 1998 I think and from Kino-lorber... I watched the film on youtube, twice, before I saw the trailer and realised it wasn't supposed to be brown throughout. I'd like to see it properly.

Can anyone in the know give a quick rundown of serviceable releases of his films please?

To the best of my knowledge, the following are the only Balabanov films that have been released with English subs:

Brother - R1 Kino is in print; R2 Tartan is OOP (but still available from Amazon)
Of Freaks and Men - R1 Image is OOP; R2 Tartan is OOP (but still available from Amazon)
Brother 2 - R2 Tartan is OOP (but still available from Amazon)
War - R2 Tartan is OOP (but still available from Amazon marketplace sellers)
Blind Man's Bluff - R1 Kino is in print (but it's called Dead Man's Bluff)
Cargo 200 - R1 Disinformation is in print

Do you know if they're good? I hear Cargo 200 is a good transfer. Michael Brooke said Tartan's Of Freaks and Men and Amalgama's Brother were less than good.

Cargo 200 is the only one I've got, and it seemed fine.

I just watched Cargo 200 and it's interlaced with combing and the colors are faded (I'm guessing). It's not good but still worth it, being the only one.

zedz wrote:The last I saw was Morphia, which is simply fantastic. Almost as bleak as Cargo 200 (i.e. about as bleak as any film that isn't Cargo 200 can get), but also a superbly evocative period piece. I wasn't particularly impressed by the earlier works of his that I'd seen (The Brothers), but those two films alone make him one of the most interesting working filmmakers for me.

I recall watching a fansubbed version of this mesmerizing film and being convinced this man was a big part of the promise of the future of cinema.

Well, he was. . .

I still can't believe Morphia never got an English language release. It's the kind of film that, if we're lucky, somebody like Second Run will unearth in thirty years' time and startle everybody.