Netflix Loves Russia's Beloved Sergei Bodrov, Jr.


Netflix Loves Russia's Beloved Sergei Bodrov, Jr.
Sergei Bodrov, Jr., on the transformer substation next to Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg. Amanda Shirnina

Sergei Bodrov, Jr. was one of the first Russian actors I knew about. Around 1999, my local Fenton, Michigan, Blockbuster had Burnt by the SunEast/West, and Brother on the shelves for a languishing Russophile teenager who had no access to the sounds of the Russian language. Thus, my first three Russian actors were Nikita Mikhailkov, Oleg Menshikov, and Sergei Bodrov, Jr. The latter, who died shortly after I began to be aware of him in 2002, is in the news again. The Brother (Brat) cult film franchise in which Bodrov, Jr. stars is now on Netflix.

After only one week on Netflix, Brat has entered the service's Top 10 list of most-watched films. Everyone wants to see 1990s Russian gangsters.

There were some concerns about how racist and racy phrases from 1990s gangster culture would be translated into English subtitles, including a major scandal about a short but important phrase and how Netflix translated it.

Bodrov, Jr. (he is "Jr." as his eponymous father is a famous film director), is generally respected throughout Russia as a class act. Certainly his tragic premature death on set at age 30 strengthened that legacy. His image has graced a transformer substation next to Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg since 2014, as seen in the photograph above.

You Might Also Like

A History of Oscar and Russian Films

A History of Oscar and Russian Films

The first Russian movie to win an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film was the documentary Rout of the German Troops near Moscow (1942). Since then, five Russian films have won this honor.
War Without Peace
  • February 01, 1997

War Without Peace

A review of Sergei Bodrov's film, "A Prisoner of the Caucasus," starring Oleg Menshikov.
The Valley of the Dead
  • March 01, 2021

The Valley of the Dead

A severe, remote valley in Ossetia inters the remains of one of Russia’s most revered film stars... and the mingled bones of countless ancients.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals
[INVALID]
[INVALID]

Some of our Books

Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

Woe From Wit (bilingual)
June 20, 2017

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

A Taste of Russia
November 01, 2012

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955