The best movie I saw in '05 --- and it still resonates
Added 11/13/2009
Once upon a time in Denmark, there was a good brother and a bad brother.
When we meet them, Jannik, the bad brother, is just getting out of prison --- he's such a screwup he failed even at bank robbery.
Michael, the good brother, has a beautiful wife, two perfect daughters and a purpose: He's an Army officer about to go to Afghanistan to direct a reconstruction program.
And the good brother leaves, and, right off, his helicopter is shot down in Afghanistan, and an Army representative has the unhappy duty of knocking on the door of his home and delivering the ultimate bad news to his wife.
The grieving is intense. And ugly. The father of the brothers stands six inches from the face of his bad son and announces, "Now I have nothing."
I would crumble. But the bad son rallies. There's a void that needs to be filling, and he steps up. Plays with the little girls. Builds new kitchen cabinets. Consoles the wife.
The bad brother becomes a better brother.
And then the dead brother returns home --- alive and damaged.
Mayhem follows.
Brothers was easily the most powerful film I saw in 2005. It was directed by Susanne Bier, who directed the most powerful film I saw in 2007, After the Wedding. If you saw them back to back, you'd know they were by the same filmmaker --- I can't think of another director who chooses such nakedly emotional stories and then delivers every big emotional moment they contain --- with hand-held cameras, at close range --- with such total fearlessness.
The result: movies that matter. Are they pleasant to watch? Not in the way you're used to. They don't go out of their way to deliver happy endings. There's no stirring, manipulative soundtrack to make the big moments familiar. But these movies do something that most films don't --- they have you on the edge of your seat, and for more than a few minutes during a big action scene.
These movies work precisely because they're so tough to watch --- in the way, that is, that real life can be tough. The trouble the characters are in, it's real trouble, not movie trouble. A soldier brings the war home. Happens every day. And we imagine what that's like for his wife, their kids, friends and family --- but we have no clue. Because every veteran is different. And, of course, because the wars we fight now are so different from our lives at home that we have no idea what happens there.
Except in "Brothers". Something terrible happens in Afghanistan, and we see it. And it is so bad your hand goes to your face in horror and sadness. The good brother can never forget it. Neither will you.
It takes great acting to make a movie like this play out as if it's reality TV --- as if the director somehow gained the rights to the story of a family unraveling and a new family emerging. Ulrich Thomsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas aren't actors known to us; they should be. And Connie Nielsen as the wife is just sensational; it's impossible to believe she usually appears in Hollywood blockbusters.
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Don't miss this Danish film with English subtitles. Carries with it an exceptional level of suspense, family drama, wartime trauma and painful introspection. Difficult to watch at times. A well-acted and well-crafted product of above average cinematic quality.
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5 - STARS -- for this fine movie -- But --
Added 3/27/2009
Have purchased two separate dvds of this movie from two different Amazon sellers. There are 3 language subtitle choices, English (of course) is one of them. My remote will underline French & Spanish - and the subtitles will operate. The 'English' choice - this choice 'cannot be underlined' = therefore does not operate. It is not my player ! I have two German movies, the English subtitles work for them. Just mentioning this fact in case anyone is interested ? And, I'm scratching my head because - none of the above 18 reviewers have had this problem. My dvd player is a TOSHIBA HD ... less than a year old, works fine on every other dvd I own.
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Coming home . . .
Added 2/22/2009
This Danish film about a coalition soldier in Afghanistan deftly portrays the impact of combat on noncombatants far from the battlefield. Though arguably not an accurate case study of PTSD, "Brothers" represents very plausibly the unexpressed anguish of returning soldiers who have witnessed or been a part of horrific, soul-shattering experiences. And it depicts the havoc that their experience - unresolved - can exert at home, especially when what waits for them on their return are family members with their own dysfunctions and emotional baggage. The performances in this film are quite plausible, and while it sometimes strays in the direction of melodrama, it often pulls us up short with glimpses of very real people struggling against the odds. Well worth seeing.
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Heartbreakingly realistic prisoner of war story
Added 12/10/2008
The debriefing and psychological evaluation of returning prisoners of war
seems entirely lacking in the Danish army.
A Danish major is held prisoner for months in near isolation and
made to do things he has trouble living with.
The resulting disaster when he is turned loose on his unsuspecting family
is heartbreaking.
The acting is very good and the script nails the return of the dead angle.
Those who are easy to disturb or get too emotionally involved in a plot
shouldn't see this film.
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