Brødre (2004)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Susanne Bier

Writers:

Susanne Bier (story)
Anders Thomas Jensen (story)

Release Date:

27 August 2004 (Denmark)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

Two brothers must negotiate changing roles and shifting family dynamics when one is sent to war in Afghanistan.

Plot Keywords:

Afghanistan | Prisoner | Criminal | Brother Brother Relationship | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

11 wins & 20 nominations

Cast

Connie Nielsen	...	Sarah
Ulrich Thomsen	...	Michael
Nikolaj Lie Kaas	...	Jannik
Sarah Juel Werner	...	Natalia
Rebecca Løgstrup	...	Camilla (as Rebecca Løgstrup Soltau)
Bent Mejding	...	Henning
Solbjørg Højfeldt	...	Else
Niels Olsen	...	Allentoft
Paw Henriksen	...	Niels Peter
Lars Hjortshøj	...	Preben 2
Lars Ranthe	...	Preben 1
André Babikian	...	Nadeem
Lene Maria Christensen	...	J. Solvej
Laura Bro	...	Ditte
Henrik Koefoed	...	Bartender

Also Known As:

Brothers (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and brief nudity.

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Belgium:KT | Australia:MA | Brazil:16 | France:U | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Argentina:16 | South Korea:15 | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:13 | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Two Brothers Ltd.

Trivia:

Along with "Kongekabale", this was the most successful and best reviewed Danish film of the year in its native country. However, neither of these two films was submitted to the Oscars as the Foreign Film from Denmark. A jury decided to sent a documentary film, "De fem benspænd", which had only been attended by 12,532 people in Danish theaters. This story made headlines, and Danish film producers officially stated that they would force the jury to pick "Brødre" or "Kongekabale" in stead. The jury would not reconsider, and "De fem benspænd" was sent to the Oscars. It was not among the eventual nominees for Best Foreign Language Film. "Brødre" later won several awards across the world, including at the Sundance Film Festival, and opened to stellar reviews in the US. The jury later admitted that they possibly chose the wrong film to send to the Oscars that year.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the argument in the girls' room before the funeral, the time on the alarm clock in the background jumps ahead by several minutes between shots.

Quotes:

Michael: I will always love you. That is the only truth that remains. Life is neither right nor wrong, good or bad. But I love you. That's all I know.

Movie Connections:

Remade as Brothers (2009)

Not easy to watch, but I loved it

This is one of the movies I liked the most this year - others wrote a lot about acting etc., let me tell you about my reactions.

I enjoyed the movie from the very first to the very last moment, it let me feel. Despite the heavy questions there's no solution in the end, and I still felt I take something with me. I understood and lived through something important. There's no 'this is right' and 'this is bad' in the movie, director Susanne Bier presents situations and then shows how each player of the drama tries to cope with it - just like in life.

To my surprise, although I didn't know these Danish actors, they play very very well. I don't remember Connie Nielsen (Sarah) from Gladiator as many do, but her performance here is very impressive. The two brothers, Ulrich Thomsen (Michael) and Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Jannik), show a sensitive and fragile relationship between the two brothers. The whole movie pops out just like real life, and the dogma style caught me on, I felt like watching a real home movie, recorded from life.

I was touched by the dialogs, the acting, the music, the atmosphere... I have a friend who's husband has been recently returned from war. She told she feels that he must have gone through a lot of things she has no idea of. Now I can imagine what she meant. Therefore I especially liked the moments, when I got a couple of ten seconds to breathe, to digest watching the landscapes; to see people sigh on the screen and sigh with them.

This was not an easy movie to watch, but I wish, I could watch more of these, and encouraged me to check out more films played by Nielsen or directed by Bier. 10/10