BROTHERS
US, 2009, 106 minutes, Colour.
Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Sam Shepard, Mare Winningham, Clifton Curtis Jr, Carey Mulligan.
Directed by Jim Sheridan.
When the Danish film Brothers was released in 2003, it was topical because of the invasion of Afghanistan and the work of peacekeeping forces like those from Denmark. There was a certain remoteness for the Danish audience. Afghanistan was a long way away and the Danes were not at war. This made the telling of a story about the hardships of a soldier, the crisis of conscience and the pain in returning home after being released from capture, all the more powerful. The film was directed by Suzanne Bier.
It has now been adapted for the United States and directed by Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father, In America). And this makes a great deal of difference, especially for an American audience. America is involved in the Afghan conflict. The war makes headlines every other day, especially with news of casualties. Even President Obama finds himself in a situation where he feels constrained to send more troops.
What will the American public make of a film which portrays heroes but portrays them in a questioning light? While the drama was more palpable in the Danish version, it seems more 'real' in the American version.
The action is transposed to Minnesota. Tobey Maguire (who often has a kind of monotonous voice delivery and a somewhat impassive face which he uses for the most part here) does have some opportunities to be more compellingly dramatic than usual, in the key scene of torture in Afghanistan and in the emotional trauma he experiences on his return home. Jake Gyllenhaal has the easier role as the younger brother who is a disappointment to his ex-Vietnam marine (a strong performance from Sam Shepard) and has served time. He becomes more engaging as the action progresses and takes on opportunities to redeem himself. Natalie Portman is the wife and mother.
Most of the action is in Minnesota, with scenes of action in Afghanistan, especially the imprisonment of two marines and the physical and, ultimately, mental torture which tests the metal and integrity of the hero. The film emphasises the toll that military service takes on families with absences, dangers and the homecoming which needs so much tolerance and understanding and time for healing (where and if possible).
After all this, the film ends somewhat abruptly, both emotionally and thematically. Some more explicit indications of the future would have been helpful. (And marketers have burdened the film with one of the most trite and misleadingly trivialising taglines: 'She is caught between the man she loves and the man who loves her', as if it were a melodramatic soap-opera.)
1.The impact of this film? For American audiences? World audiences? Its tone, realism? Grim?
2.Ordinary life in Minnesota, towns, suburbs, homes? Bars? Prison? Realistic? The musical score?
3.The contrast with Afghanistan? The desert, arid, mountains, beauty? The skies?
4.The title, audience expectations, love and hate, rivalry, good and bad, change?
5.The picture of Sam: a military man, a strong man, a sense of mission, picking up the prisoner, it turning out to be his brother? The relationship between them? The brother and his past, getting out? The reconciliation? The brothers’ parents? Grace, the photo of them, teenage sweethearts? the children? An atmosphere of joy at home? Sam playing with the children but their upset that he would be absent?
6.Tommy, his character, the past, his look, the woman, getting out, the car, his relationship with his parents, relying on Elsie, his stepmother, the confrontations with his father, especially at Joe Willis' funeral? With his brother?
7.Sam at the base, his officer, giving him the letter for Grace, going to Afghanistan, the farewells, his leaving his children, the officer, his arrival? The mission, the helicopter, the detail of work in Afghanistan, the crash? The dead? His not dying, his being taken? In the cell, the months passing, Joe, the ordeal? The detail of the ordeal? The time passing, memories of Grace? Joe's story, the order for Joe to be killed, the vicious taunting and Sam's frenzy? The killing, the rescue?
8.Sam suddenly back, his conscience, moods? His suspicions of Tommy, Grace and his continued questioning them? The meal with his parents? The party and Isabelle's outburst? The officers? Whether to confess or not? Becoming more erratic, Grace and her fear? Suspicions? His confrontation with Tommy, his destruction of the kitchen, brandishing the gun, his how of despair, his arrest?
9.Tommy, his attraction towards Sarah, helping, playing with the children, the kiss, remodelling the kitchen, drunk at the bar and Grace coming to get him, his joy at Sam's return? Sam's accusations? His bringing his girlfriend to the meal? Her talking and telling her story? Isabelle's anger? The fight, the change?
10.Grace and the girls, an ordinary woman, pleasant, love for her husband, hearing of his death, her grief, trying to cope? Tommy's presence, the change in him, his being more tender, the kiss, her loneliness? The news? Sam’s return, her puzzle, her trying to love him, her fears, the danger?
11.The reverse in the brothers, Tommy becoming more humane? Sam becoming more troubled and violent?
12.The visit to the prison, Sam beginning to confess to Grace, the possibility of healing?
13.The portrayal of the children, at home, sisters, with their mother, wariness of their father, warming to Tommy and playing with him, liking him more than their father? Sam's return and their alienation? The birthday party and her resentment, outburst, her mother comforting her and her apology?
14.The reality of war, behaviour in war, conscience, forgiving oneself, being forgiven, reconciliation?
