The series "Brigada": reviews, facts, opinion of Americans

At the crossroads of two eras, of the '90s and 2000she Russian cinema had a bright handwriting, a character of its own, which makes the viewer today irresistibly eager to revisit the films of those years. Yes: they were mostly criminal, gangster and rather gloomy. Yes: the plot centres on the devastation and social inequality that was the anchor of the New Russia. However - therein lies the glamour The film projects of that time, because nothing more realistic, worldly and atmospheric had ever been filmed in our country (well, as it seems to us). One of these romanticised gangster masterpieces was the TV series "Brigade." - is already a cult classic that even the in the West!

Over the course of 15 episodes, the viewer watches as the four friends - Sasha Bely, Phil, Cosmos and Bee. - from backyard boys to criminal masterminds. There is a place for the most different, but equally relevant themes, such as love and friendship, honour and karma... Americans have dubbed Alexei Sidorov's creation "Russian gangster saga."Sidorov himself noted the obvious inspiration of "The Godfather" and "Once Upon a Time in America". However, Sidorov himself did not hide the Western influence on his project, which, in any case, is imbued with the spirit of the New Russia of the 90s....

"Emotion is the main key to success": review by FUZZ MUSIC

The series "Brigada" is already more than 20 years old, but the public still remembers and loves it. Quite a rare phenomenon for Russian cinema of those years - more like exclusionthan the rule. Most of what was filmed in the 90's - 2000's turned out to be passable video material, which the general public today will not even remember - what film was called, and who played who in it. However, in the case of "Brigada" everything is different: even a modern teenager knows Sasha Beloeas well as catchphrases such as "For every tough fighter, there's a tougher fighter" or "Never think or speak ill of your friends!".

The cast, many of whom were quite new to the industry, were also well remembered by people. But why is that? Why did some films seem to fly past the audience, while others crashed into the minds of viewers for years to come, and even resonated with the younger generation and Western audiences?

As it seems to us - the secret of the success of "Brigada" is that this screen story simply can not leave the indifferent no one. Yes, not everyone will understand everything (especially Americans). Yes, some really important episodes raise a lot of questions and remain misunderstood because of the crumpled presentation, while the director decided to pay much more attention to minor scenes. But the narrative itself, the atmosphere, the characters themselves - all this leaves a lasting impression. You can't get it out of your head! And what do you think? What caught you in this series? Share your impressions in the comments.

Record budget

At that time, domestic directors, for the most part, were suffering from a lack of money. Funding was more than modest - the only thing left to hope for was rich sponsors. And in this respect, "Brigada" was very lucky: the total amount spent on the creation of the series was about $3 million - so each episode cost almost 200,000 greenbacks. A truly record budget by the standards of those years! No wonder that all the scenes were filmed so spectacularly and on such a large scale.....

Of course, the status of the most expensive Russian TV series gave rise to many rumours, speculations and legends as to where Sidorov got such money! Some have speculated that the project was sponsored by the real ones criminalswho supposedly wanted to tell the general public about the romance and tragedy of their lives. Who knows...

An uneasy relationship between the actors

Human relationships are a very complicated thing. But so much depends on it - especially when it comes to making a film. After all, if the actors don't get along, what kind of on-screen chemistry can we talk about? To bring the "four friends" closer together, the director sent the lead actors out of town. The plan paid off, and the guys really hit it off, which benefited their relationship on camera....

Few people know, but the fight scene between White and Fly was... absolutely real! What exactly the actors did not share - remains a mystery. However, their fist fight lasted as long as 8 hoursand ended up giving the guys real injuries...

But the most complicated relationship was between Sergei Bezrukov and Ekaterina Gusevahis character's wife. The thing is that their couple looked so realistic on the screen that after the release of the series, the actors began to attribute the novel - what can you do, people love gossip. Both artists at that time were in a relationship with other people, and therefore such rumours they did not like very much. Against this background, Guseva even refused for a long time to star with Bezrukov in the same projects - despite the fact that such proposals came.

The Americans were surprised

The excitement around "Brigada" was so big, it came to a head. to the West! Of course, many Americans watched this series only after many years - most likely thanks to the Internet, where "Brigada" has already become a phenomenon and exploded into clips, cuts and memes. And here, in fact, what impressions this series made on Western friends....

"I have been a Russophile since childhood. So any material that helps me immerse myself in Russia is dear to me. However, while I'm not interested in crime and gangster stuff at all, I just can't forget Brigada. Given the fact that my country is also going through a turbulent period, I'm always worried, like a young person who doesn't know what the future will bring. Almost all of my conversations with my Russian friends at some point boil down to the following: "Dude, you're learning Russian. You watched Brigada and saw how it was in the '90s. But see, we're all alive and well now. Don't worry, countries and people are going through hard times!" and then the Brigada theme song starts playing in my head. Sorry to sound like a nervous teenager, but that's how much I love that show...".

 

"It dramatically popularised the criminal lifestyle among teenagers. It would have been better if this series had not existed. It was literally funded by gangsters to look more humane in the eyes of the population they were actively robbing on a daily basis..."

 

"I wonder why this series hasn't become so popular in other countries yet? It really impressed me, it evokes a lot of emotions..."