Brothers

This Danish film, directed by Susanne Bier, is an unDogmatic follow-up by a Dogme 95 signee, which by now is clearly seen as a PR effort by a group of filmmakers to justify the cinematic means available to their fiscal means, a way for a small nation’s films to insinuate themselves collectively on to the world stage. The dictates of Dogma do highlight, however, some essential elements of film craft. For example, this film’s violation of the edict against any music not emanating from the scene itself made me extra-aware of the fairly elaborate sound design of musical cues. And its in-your-face, on-the-fly camerawork is balanced by some striking visual effects, like the reflections on water that open and close the movie, and most especially the shooting down of a helicopter in Afghanistan, the hinge of the drama, which turns an action film cliche into pictorial art. The story is schematic but emotionally powerful. The good soldier brother turns bad, the violent bankrobber brother turns good, revolving in turn around the beautiful wife/sister-in-law. And wow -- is she beautiful! Connie Neilsen may just have been Nordic eye-candy in Gladiator, but here proves herself to be a woman in full. The male leads are up to their transformations as well, and there are two darling little girls, so you don’t mind spending time in very close and uncomfortable contact with this in-bred family. As it happens, I re-watched Coming Home not too long ago, and Ulrich Thomsen gives a much more believable portrayal of PTSD than Bruce Dern’s staring loony. This is a good, strong drama of opposition, of personality and nationality, of types and places, of love and death, but could have done with fewer underlinings and capital letters. It can be flinchingly powerful, but would have been better less dogmatic and more Dogmatic, less insistent and more abstemious in means. (2005, Images, n.) *7-* (MC-75, RT-87.)