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(Denmark) A Nordisk Film AS release (in Denmark) of a Zentropa Entertainments14 Aps production, in co-production with Two Brothers Ltd./Sigma Films Ltd., Memfis Film Intl. AB, Fjellape Film AS, in co-operation with DR and Invicta Capital, and with support from the Danish Film Institute, the Swedish Film Institute and Nordic Film & TV Fund. (International sales: Trust Film Sales, Copenhagen). Produced by Sisse Graum Jorgensen, Peter Aalbaek Jensen. Executive producer, Peter Garde. Directed by Susanne Bier. Screenplay, Anders Thomas Jensen, from a story by Bier, Jensen.
With: Connie Nielsen, Ulrich Thomsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Bent Mejding, Solbjorg Hojfeldt, Paw Henriksen, Laura Bro, Nieks Olsen, Sarah Juel Werner, Rebecca Longstrup Soltau, Lars Ranthe, Lars Hjortshoj, Andre Babikian, Lene Maria Christensen, Henrik Koefoed.
The second collaboration between helmer Susanne Bier and scriptwriter Anders Thomas Jensen once again shows what skilled artists can do with a story that might have ended up filled with cliches. Like their award-winning "Open Hearts," "Brothers" is about lives being turned upside down by events outside the people's control. Pic's qualities, combined with Bier's popularity, will make it a box office hit in Denmark, and heavy fest exposure this fall will guarantee solid sales to foreign buyers looking for accessible arthouse fare.
Michael (Ulrich Thomsen) and Sarah (Connie Nielsen) are happily married and have two daughters. Attached to the Danish United Nation forces, Michael is on the verge of leaving for Afghanistan. Before leaving, he picks up his young brother and family black sheep Jannik (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), who is being released from prison after serving time for a petty crime.
After arriving in Afghanistan, Michael is declared dead when a helicopter he is riding in is shot down. Sarah receives the news in a tense, wordless sequence. Cut to Afghanistan, where the wounded Michael is found by guerrilla fighters and taken to their stronghold.
Meanwhile, Jannik tries to help Sarah by rebuilding her kitchen and they become much closer in the process. When they celebrate the birthday of one the girls, Jannik and Sarah embrace and kiss, although they are both instantly embarrassed by what they have done.
Back in Afghanistan (in scenes shot in Spain), Michael is forced at gun point to commit an act of barbaric violence and becomes a changed man. Soon after, upon being liberated by British forces, he is able to return to Denmark, where his tension threatens an unhappy turn for his entire family.
Helmer Bier captures the nuances in Jensen's script, which defies formulas, steering what could have been cliched characters into depictions of real human beings. Bier's "Open Hearts" was an official Dogme film, which demonstrated the possibility of intimacy that shooting on video facilitates. Shot on high definition video, "Brothers" is an intimate, deeply satisfying film, both in its execution and in the feelings and events it depicts.
Nielsen, a Denmark native whose career has mostly been in U.S. films, makes a fine Danish-speaking debut here.
Camera (color, DV -to-35mm), Morten Soborg; editor, Pernille Bech Christensen; music, Johan Soderqvist; art director, Viggo Bentzon; costume designer, Signe Sejlund; sound (Dolby SRD), Per Streit; line producer, Karen Bentzon. Reviewed at Palads Cinema, Copenhagen, Aug. 12, 2004. (In Toronto Film Festival; also in San Sebastian Film Festival -- competing.) Running time: 110 MIN.
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