Brothers (2004)

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

We all know that American cinema can't help itself to do remake of foreign films... That's why i saw Brothers before this original danish movie. When in this one all appears to be shot in steady cam, the American way tries to put some melodramatic trigger.This version is about feelings, about situation and personal change: life make us evolve like every decision we take and nothing is good or bad, there is a lot of in between. The chose to accumulate the short shootings, practically no music or just a few notes on one instrument,are trying to bring us along this day to day story really well interpreted. The characters in their flaws or every day basis are believable, there is not so much emphasis like in the good but too much American film. It's in their nature to modify, adjust the deepness of the movie and after seeing this 2004 version, we actually miss something: this authenticity.In both versions, dialogs, ellipses are exactly the same, but characters turned out to be different. We actually have to exact opposite films and this is a real challenge to see both.

Danish screenwriter and director Susanne Bier's eight feature film which she co-wrote with Danish screenwriter Anders Thomas Jensen, is inspired by Homer's poem "The Odyssey". It was shot on location in Denmark and Spain and is a Denmark-Norway-Sweden-UK co-production which was produced by producers Peter Aalbæk Jensen and Sisse Graum Jørgensen. It tells the story about a man named Michael Lundberg who lives in a lucrative home in with his lovely wife Sarah and their two daughters. Michael is like the recipe of success and as opposed to his rebellious brother Jannik, the pride of the family, but his life takes a new course when he is sent on a mission to Afghanistan. Briefly after his departure, Sarah receives a call and is told that her husband is missing in action. Alone with her two children Sarah seeks comfort in Jannik who is more than willing to take on Michael's role. Early on Susanne Bier divides the film into two parallel stories which converges into a dynamic confrontation. The substance in her incarnated character drama is the sporadic relationship between Michael and Jannik who are of the same blood, but of different caliber. One is the apple of the family's eye and gets all the love while the other is the black sheep who has been reminded so often about his shortcomings that he no longer sees any reason in trying to meet the expectations of his family. Both of these characters personalities alters significantly during the course of the film, but the gravity in this in-depth study of character lies in Michael's transformation from happy family man to demoralized war victim.Family relations is a characteristic theme in the films of Susanne Bier and the frequent close-ups which recurs in several of her films is also present here. In "Brødre", Susanne Bier examines family situations with acute observations which illuminates interpersonal truths. Danish actor Ulrich Thomsen "The Inheritance" (2003), Danish actor Nikolaj Lie Kaas "The Idiots" (1998) and Danish actress Connie Nielsen "Gladiator" (2000) are the central characters in this compassionate drama triangle and their commendable acting performances are one of the main reasons for this films individuality. It lives on it's own terms, many questions are left for the viewers to answer and the natural progression of the characters is given a higher priority than satisfying conclusions. Susanne Bier creates archetypal human figures, tells genuine stories and invites the viewers into her human insight with her distinct and engaging directing.

'Brødre'('Brothers') is a remarkable film from Denmark written by Anders Thomas Jensen and Susanne Bier who also directs this microscopic examination of the intricacies of family bonding, the significance of the blood ties between brothers, and the effects of one of the brutal realities of war on every individual member of a family. It is a tense drama made palpable by some phenomenal acting and direction.Michael (Ulrich Thomsen) and Jannik (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) are polar opposites as brothers: Michael is his father's dream, a man who is committed to his family, his beautiful and devoted wife Sarah (Connie Nielsen) with whom he has two daughters, while Jannik is a carefree drifter who drinks too much and refuses to have the stable life his parents expect of him. Michael is off to war in Afghanistan and is in a tragic helicopter accident and reported as dead. When Sarah is informed her world crumbles, as does the mental state of her father-in-law. Jannik hears the news while drunk but slowly awakens to the awful reality that his brother is gone and his sister-in-law and nieces need the support he has never been able to muster.In Afghanistan we discover that Sarah's inclination that Michael is not really dead is true: Michael has been captured by the Taliban and the experience as a prisoner changes him indelibly, breaking his shell of perfection and he becomes vulnerable and fragile. When Michael returns home to the surprise of everyone the dynamics that have reversed between the family and Jannik and the force that bonds Michael and Jannik is challenged and we are left to examine the fallout.The script in Danish is supplemented with excellent subtitles in English, but one wonders if the words are even necessary - so fine is the acting of every actor involved. Connie Nielson is a major force in cinema today, a brilliant actor whose spectrum of dynamics appears endless. Both Thomsen and Kaas are equally fine in their difficult roles. This is a superlative work, a psychological drama that strikes chords of familiarity on many levels. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp

Rarely a film comes along that resonates not only due to its aesthetic quality, but also metaphorically on the level of personal experience. Brothers is such a film. When I saw it, I was blown away.Michael (Ulrich Thompson) is the older and more stable brother of Jannik, played by the by now Danish Superstar Nikolaj Lie Kass, who must first bail his brother out of jail, then report to duty as a soldier in Afghanistan. The helicopter of his platoon is quickly shot down, and Michael finds himself held as a prisoner by an Afghan warlord with one other of his soldiers.Meanwhile, Michael's absence seems to have a good effect on Jannik, who befriends his family and children, and by all observances begins to turn his life around. In an interesting scene, the Afghan leader who has gotten a hold of a shoulder rocket but doesn't know how to use it, asks how assemble it. He confronts the other soldier who doesn't have the know-how how to arm it. When he starts to scream and it looks like he is going to kill them both, Michael Calmly steps in and shows all the steps necessary for engagement of the missile. Now everyone knows that this rocket will now be used to kill as many as a dozen more soldiers, but this is a choice that a person, Michael, has made under pressure that peaked my interest and almost sent chills down my spine. This is a person who loves his family so much and wants to live so badly to see them again, so much so, that he doesn't care for the moment that others will die, he just wants to live.The Afghani quietly notices Michael's will to survive, and soon thereafter off-handedly orders him to kill his comrade. By hand. Michael refuses, then when threatened summons up his will, and yes courage, and beats his comrade to death. It was like a 5.7 tremor shook when this happened. He wants to live so much, and feels he has so much to live for, that he is willing to do anything.Back home, Jannik and Michael's wife, Sarah (played by attractive Connie Nielsen), get news of Michael's death. Since Jannik has become one of the family and spends much time with them, opportunities arise for infidelity, served up with savory dramatic irony for the audience in the pitch-black theater. A raid on the Afghan camp ensues, and in moments Michael is free. And this is the beauty and power of the picture; after his release he is free in the physical sense but is in a spiritual choke hold from his previous action for the rest of the film. This is where the movie begins to take off. It is as if everything else was a primer for the real conflict. I do not think a screenwriter usually thinks about escalating conflict in this way. The entire film, as one reviewer notes, is "a marvel of screen writing." The way in which conflict in this film segues from one level to another is genuinely inspiring; from family, to the politics of war, to the home.This is exactly what low budget films should aim to do. In a production aspect, they should be sure to please a small group of the audience, this I imagine being the European Union in this scenario, and in a story aspect they should resonate with meaning and life. The Dogma 95 style of films also seem to help accentuate and streamline the message.This is a kind of movie which hardly anyone goes to see grosses $300,000 in the U.S., and then fifteen years later, someone comes along, feels it's power, and remakes it in English. They would perhaps draw out everything, and add money to the production budget, and maybe make a small fortune. One critic has said that this was the "Deer hunter for the war on Terror." From what I cam remember, I personally think it is a stronger film.There really isn't much one can do, in my opinion, to make Brothers a better film. In fact, I can not think of a single thing, which makes me look naturally elsewhere for reasons for its narrow box office appeal, in America at least. It is true then what I have been reading about Americans' aversion to reading subtitles, heck, to reading anything for that matter, other than the Star and the Enquirer. God Bless Oprah, and Oprah's book club. Sometimes you have to be big to be noticed, and maybe, just maybe, if this film was in English, with a higher production budget, it would be up for an Academy Award. But most probably, it would be made with much less skill and sensitivity than the original, as we have seen countless times with other foreign films such as Ringu, and Insomia, I am told.