Brødre (2004)

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 | Brother | Prisoner | Cheating Wife | Brother Brother Relationship

Awards:

13 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:

Bröder (Sweden)
Brothers (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and brief nudity.

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

Denmark | UK | Sweden | Norway

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: When Michael is saying goodbye to the girls, the time on the clock jumps backwards 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:

References Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Unexpected Gem

An unexpected gem - I had heard good things about the film but what people told me made me expect a war thriller or something and instead it is this simple yet powerful story about family, war, violence, brothers, secrets and recovery. The performances are splendid, the script is lean and strong. So many emotional scenes are delivered with no speaking - just emotion and the whole film is well shot. The director knows just when to leave a scene and go to another. The scenes of war and a prisoner's camp are so real, so raw - they are at times hard to watch. A real gem - a powerful drama. The relationship between the the brothers is so well set-up - you know who they are immediately and yet they are not stock clichés. They are both multi-dimensional. Human. Something you don't see in 2005 Hollywood movies that much.