Brothers

A cautious and selective Wikipedia entry that replaces psychologising with affected external “pictures from history”. Brothers is the most effective when it abandons its simple moral universe and focuses only on survival and determination, which perhaps best defines both Mašín the director and Mašín brothers in the film. It’s not as foggy as other Czech attempts to reflect on the bad old days of the 1950s, but it suffers from similar shortcomings in its characterisation of the period and the servants of the regime. Brothers too reverentially zigzags and hides behind what might be defined as “historical necessity” for it to really say something about the problematic issue of violent resistance and moral choices. Nevertheless, no one can deny that it offers solid directing, cinematography, editing and acting. (02/11/2024)

On the eve of this year's Czech Lions, the choice fell on the film with the most nominations and also our foreign-language candidate for the Academy Awards. Brothers could have at least taken a back seat to more promising projects for the Oscars, as it is an at times overly aloof and stilted biographical drama that, like the opinions on the real brothers, comes across as controversial. The film would have benefited from a shorter running time and a stronger coherence between scenes (especially in the first half). That said, I commend the action sequences depicting the brothers' movements in Eastern Germany, as well as the scenes with the female cast (Tatiana Dykova and Karolina Lea Nováková), which were powerful to the point of being chilling. Better three stars! (03/09/2024)

Great technical execution, lacking content. Unfortunately, the least interesting element of Brothers is the titular brothers. Given their controversial nature, the screenplay dares not approach them with any kind of opinion, and so you learn next to nothing about their thoughts, emotions, doubts, and possible regrets (the protagonists are simply hollow; they have no inner conflict; they don't go through development; they don't come across as vivid). Even their primary motivations are sketched in just to avoid being told, and come across as stilted and underdeveloped. The film works all the more in the scenes with Tatiana Dykova as the distressed mother, who adds perhaps the only truly human element to the story. Surprisingly, the film paces very well in terms of action and the expected chase in the second half is very tightly and suspensefully shot, a very solid above standard for a Czech production. It's worth seeing, whatever your opinion of the Mašín may be, but sending these things to the Oscar fight for the Czech Republic is woeful. (10/26/2023)