We start off with Misha as a child in Moscow. He gets struck by lighting and told by a woman that he will have an interesting life. We move ahead a number of years and eventually get to Misha as an advertising executive, struggling to make partner. His boss's niece, Abby (Leelee Sobieski) is in town, and they eventually begin a romantic relationship. Abby is working on a television show called "Extreme Cosmetic," in which an overweight, unattractive woman is chosen to undergo multiple surgeries to be made slim and pretty. Lest you think this sounds outrageous, let me remind everyone of a show called "The Swan" that aired on Fox in 2004. Truly an absurd idea, in this reviewer's mind, that a show could air in which a contestant does indeed undergo numerous cosmetic procedures to supposedly build their confidence. Yet, I remember this show and thought of it instantly as I watched "Branded." Misha encourages Abby to produce the show. Meanwhile, on a Polynesian island is a marketing guru played by Max Von Sydow, who is on a quest to
"make fat beautiful again." "Fat is fabulous." So the marketing guru plans his attack on the current idea of beauty. As the public becomes outraged at the cosmetic show, Misha's future in advertising begins to unravel. During this time, he retreats to become a shepherd, forsaking all modern conveniences. While on his personal hiatus, if you will, he has a dream
of himself having a dream. And in this dream within a dream, he is shown what he must do. Upon awakening, he performs a ritualistic sacrifice of a red heifer, much like the sacrifice in the Bible in Numbers 19. In biblical times, a sacrifice was made of a red heifer to cleanse oneself from impurities. After the animal was burned, the ashes were put in water, and the water was used to bathe and cleanse the impure. The same happens in the film.
After his cleansing, Misha returns to Moscow and discovers he can see the brand on each person, but no one else can see anything. This causes him to behave oddly, prompting Abby to believe he needs to see a doctor. After some time, Misha comes to terms with his ability and uses it to manipulate marketing strategies and builds himself a grand company that is able to fight and win the brand wars. Simply put, in order for a company to do well, it simply has to get the public to believe that its competitors' product is, in some way, a danger. Once the public becomes fearful or wary of that product, the stage is set to introduce the competition. This is exactly how it plays out, yet there are dire consequences, which I will leave to the movie.
At first, I thought this film would be a cross between "The Matrix" and the modern advertising world, but it was far from that. It was more cerebral—very much an independent film. "The Matrix" also centers on a dystopian society but does so in typical Hollywood fashion. "Branded" is presented in a semi documentary format narrated by a third entity. I applaud its efforts to show the dystopian world driven by marketing and consumerism, but it lacks something. Often, we want our films to be an escape, and that is perhaps where it falls short.
After his cleansing, Misha returns to Moscow and discovers he can see the brand on each person, but no one else can see anything. This causes him to behave oddly, prompting Abby to believe he needs to see a doctor. After some time, Misha comes to terms with his ability and uses it to manipulate marketing strategies and builds himself a grand company that is able to fight and win the brand wars. Simply put, in order for a company to do well, it simply has to get the public to believe that its competitors' product is, in some way, a danger. Once the public becomes fearful or wary of that product, the stage is set to introduce the competition. This is exactly how it plays out, yet there are dire consequences, which I will leave to the movie.
At first, I thought this film would be a cross between "The Matrix" and the modern advertising world, but it was far from that. It was more cerebral—very much an independent film. "The Matrix" also centers on a dystopian society but does so in typical Hollywood fashion. "Branded" is presented in a semi documentary format narrated by a third entity. I applaud its efforts to show the dystopian world driven by marketing and consumerism, but it lacks something. Often, we want our films to be an escape, and that is perhaps where it falls short.