My Brother's Wedding (1983)

Director:

Charles Burnett

Writer:

Charles Burnett (writer)

Release Date:

March 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A man who despises his upwardly mobile lawyer brother reluctantly agrees to be best man at his wedding. |

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film

Cast

Everett Silas	...	Pierce Mundy
Jessie Holmes	...	Mrs. Mundy
Gaye Shannon-Burnett	...	Sonia
Ronnie Bell	...	Soldier Richards
Dennis Kemper	...	Wendell Mundy
Sally Easter
Angela Burnett	...	Angela
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Bracy	...	Walker
Eugene Cherry	...	Gene (as Gene Cherry)
Frances E. Nealy	...	Sonia's Mother
Thomas Penick	...	Dead Body
Sy Richardson	...	Sonia's Father
Henry G. Sanders	...	Beat-up man

Runtime:

115 min | USA:78 min (2007 director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Watts, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Charles Burnett Productions

Soundtrack:

Anymore

a very good, un-recognized film

After seeing other Burnett features, I actually liked this one the best. It portrays the life of Pierce, an African American man living in a poor area of LA, but it is completely different than other "life in the ghetto" films, particularly of the 1990s. Burnett focuses on the details of ordinary life, with close-ups of shoes, leaves, etc.--the things that form our everyday experience. Scenes that might become "action sequences" in another film are here treated in an de-sensationalized way, as normal events alongside other events like running to catch the bus or taking care of your grandparents. It puts a great deal of emphasis on humor, the quirky relationships between family members, and the way that feelings build up without dramatic movie conversations. It feels like real life; it doesn't sweep you up in emotion like a melodrama, but rather forces you to experience the film at a slight distance, but not so much that it become unpleasurable-- just enough to make you consider the issues the film brings up.

In his comments after a screening I attended, Burnett said that the film to him is about responsibility. The main character Pierce is constantly doing things for others and doesn't seem to have his own goals in life. The title comes from the conflict Pierce faces towards the end of the film: does he attend his best friend's funeral or his brother's wedding? This dilemma illustrates Pierce's indecision and also the way that he is torn between his brother's upwardly mobile lifestyle and his own aimless wanderings around the city with his ex-con best friend.

All in all, I would urge you to try to see this film if you can, though I'm not sure it's available on video, which is a great shame and loss to American film culture. Burnett's work gives a completely different take on African American cinema, one that has not been recognized in the mainstream.