Rendering 15

      

The article which is called   "A director with an ear for music"  was published  on  May  27 by Vladimir Kozlov. The author told us about Alexei Balabanov, who died earlier this month at the age of 54, was one of the few Russian directors who paid special attention to the music in his films.
       Balabanov had close ties with the St. Petersburg rock community – especially with musicians, who, like him, had moved to the city from Yekaterinburg. Among them was Vyacheslav Butusov, formerly the front man of band Nautilus Pompilius, whose songs appear on the soundtracks of several of the director’s movies.
       Butusov had a cameo playing himself in 1997’s “Brat” (Brother), Balabanov’s breakthrough movie. Its main character, Danila Bagrov, is a fan of Nautilus Pompilius and searches for their song “Krilya.” The soundtrack features many of the group’s songs, mostly taken from the album “Yablokitai,” released the same year.
     The author underlined the fact  that a video for the track “Vo Vremya Dozhdya” (During the Rain) includes footage from “Brat,” as well as some additional shots featuring Bagrov. Another notable Nautilus Pompilius track on the “Brat” soundtrack is “Letuchi Fregat,” (Flying Frigate), with vocals provided by another former Yekaterinburger, Nastya Poleva. The film’s most evocative track is probably “Polkovniku Nikto Ne Pishet” (No One Writes to the Colonel) by Bi-2. Although Bi-2 had been around for more than 10 years, its main members lived in Australia and were hardly known in Russia. Their relocation to Moscow coincided with the release of “Brat 2,” and the movie boosted the group’s popularity.
      Other notable songs on the “Brat 2” soundtrack are “Iskala” (I Was Looking) by Zemfira, a new star at the time following her 1999 eponymous debut album, and Tantsy Minus with “Idu” (I’m Walking). Petersburg band Splean, whose heyday was the late 1990s and early 2000s, had three songs on the “Voina” soundtrack, including the gloomy “Plasmassovaya Zhizn” (Plastic Life).
      Balabanov’s last film, “Ya Tozhe Khochu” (I Also Want It) features music exclusively by veteran St. Petersburg band Auktsyon and front man Leonid Fyodorov. Tracks such as “Golova-Noga” (Head-Leg) and “Zimy Ne Budet” (There Won’t Be a Winter) are well-known to the band’s fans, but sound new when juxtaposed with the movie’s images.

It was a great man with a great talant. All his films are wonderful and speaking about the music of his films, all people know it and listen. To my mind the author was a fan of Balabanov. We can read about the majority of the music from the films of this great man.