Branded Was A Dark But Interesting Movie

A couple of years ago, this movie called Branded came out. It was filmed in Russia. It was a movie that looked at the way people are being manipulated by advertisement. The cast is made up largely of unknown actors, and the movie is done on a small budget.

The lead character (Ed Stoppard) is in the advertisement game and working for an American, played by Jeffery Tambor. He's been taken under his wing and rises to the top. But he violates his boss's one rule. Don't sleep with his niece (Leelee Sobieski).

He gets involved in a reality show that goes very wrong, and he goes out to the country to make sense of it all. There, he starts having visions and is compelled to understand what is really going on. It leads to a gruesome scene where he makes an animal sacrifice to gain the wisdom he seeks.

When he comes back to the city, things have changed. The mass marketing has come to life with a sort of energy that compels people to consume. What has happened is an adviser, played by veteran actor Max Von Sydow, is advising the fast food chains to market the idea that fat is the new thin.

Also, in a weird sort of way, the corporate advertising energies are at war with each other to be number one. This concept was conveyed in the trailers for this movie, and it enticed me to check it out. We are sometimes compelled to buy things we don't even want or need simply because of the commercials.

It's a unique look at the world of advertisement that flew under the radar. Not a great movie. Things could have been done better. However, I like the concept they were going for. I sometimes think there are forces at work through the big and small screens that aren't good for us, and this movie did a pretty good job of conveying that.

The trailer for the movie: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HInOg12jMiY