MY BROTHER’S NAME IS ROBERT AND HE IS AN IDIOT

Germany, 2018, 174 minutes, Colour.
Joseph Mattes, Julia Zange, Urs Juscker, Stefan Konarske.
Directed by Philip Groening.

This is a long film which may appeal to audiences in northern and central Europe rather than audiences in English-speaking countries. It was directed by Philip Groening who made an impact with his portrait of the Carthusian Abbey, Into Great Silence.

This is a contemporary story focusing on twins. They have a strong relationship with each other, sometimes antagonistic, often a rivalry. The sister is about to sit for a philosophy exam and wants to discuss the issues with her brother. While he is interested in philosophy, he is more interested in machines making a bet with his sister so that he can win one.

This means that a great amount of the dialogue in the early part of the film is quite philosophical, especially probing the nature of time, the issue of entities. There is also reference to the philosophy of Martin Heidegger – with memories of his rather fascist stances in 1930s Germany.

Some may find the philosophical dialogue difficult in comprehension and tedious to listen to – and, as has been said, not everybody is enthralled by the aesthetics of abstraction.

The locations are not particularly imaginative, the house, the fields with the various crops and an isolated service station. There are not too many of the characters either. The associates of the brother who turn up at night demanding service when the service station is closed, and that includes his former girlfriend. There is also the passive young man who sits at the counter waiting for spasmodic customers.

The other main character is the proprietor of the garage who knew the two when they were young. The sister has a bet that she can seduce someone and she set her sights on the proprietor who resists her but then succumbs – with later very severe and fatal consequences.

Because the central characters are not particularly engaging for an audience, it is rather hard to sit through their discussions, their rivalries, his drinking, her seductive behaviour, the ultimate violence.

For specialists in German cinema.