By Cornelis Hähnel. Saturday evening, shortly before eight o'clock. Joscha is sitting in his room, bored, playing with his mobile phone camera. The walls are crammed with movie posters, a giant alligator soft toy climbs onto a small couch, some sportswear rests on the desk chair. "You are all going to die", the 13-year-old boy whispers into the camera. He then sneaks through the corridor and into the kitchen. A pot of pea soup is treated as the “muck of evil”, and his father, coming in to get his beer, gives evil a face. In the sitting room there’s a German game show on the TV, and nine-year-old Alex is ready for his bath. An ordinary evening. And while the parents are getting comfortable in front of the TV screen, both boys disappear into the bathroom. Alex is supposed to star as the monster for Joschas horror movie by eerily emerging out of the bath water. But the game starts to get out of control. And still remains commonplace.

BROTHER, BROTHER takes a precise look into the life of a normal family. An ordinary evening, somewhere around now. Parents enjoying their leisure-time, boys harassing each other with mean taunts. It’s only the mobile phone that shortly threatens this normalcy. The mobile phone, which introduces Joscha to the audience and sees whatever he sees. Even the first shot, in which Joscha films himself, show the pertinence of the two narrative levels, which are not only part of the film’s aesthetic concept, but at the same time act as its driving force. The blurry and shaky images connect immediately to the world that the young protagonist inhabits. Still, this is about far more than just criticizing the media. Within the monitor of the mobile phone the complex family structures flow together, allowing an insight that is as intimate as it is distanced. Because in spite of the palpable intimacy the film manages to keep a clear view on the events. The focus lies on interaction between the brothers. What starts out as child’s play turns more and more into a dangerous power game – and in the end, into a learning process. Director Kreyßig shows this small step into adulthood, this insight into the responsibility of one’s own actions, in a way that is dramaturgically effective, but seems very undramatic. But even if the film ends almost casually and on a rather succinct gesture, a part of the lightness has clearly vanished. As the film doesn’t blame anybody, not even the parents, the ending proposes something both simple and profound: the collecting of experiences. And this message is delivered by BROTHER, BROTHER with a unagitated attitude and precise observation.

Links

• BROTHER, BROTHER (D 2007. Lars Kreyßig)
• Learning how to Handle Reality and Fiction – An interview with Lars Kreysig
• The Boom Is On – Cornelis Hähnel about the German film market