Brotherhood - Fratellanza

A gay romance happening inside a Danish Neo-Nazi clique, what a crack idea! The film intriguingly narrates a compassionate experience of a former Danish serviceman Lars (Thure Lindhardt, the winsome blond from ANGELS & DEMONS 2009), whose passionate courtship with Jimmy (superbly played by David Dencik from A SOAP 2006, another 8/10 film from Denmark, a frenzy macho role sheerly contrasts with his transsexual image in the latter film), who is the fervent skinhead among a gay-bashing Neo-Nazi group. (Speaking of Nazism, my downright ignorance thwart me from the knowledge of how exact the film tackles with the thorny issue, judging by the film, it is basically understated I suppose).

There are abundant cinematic conflicts in the plot, although predictable, but applied deftly (by a poignant performance from the two leads and a fine-tuned hand-held camera movement, it never cease trembling). An exemplary northern Europe topography and scenario imbues an obscure hue of cruelty and restlessness.

The performances are solid (Morten Holst, who plays Jimmy's younger brother, might be a tad histrionic), both the chemistry between two lead actors and the impending tragedy are brewed perfectly on time and the sex scenes are aesthetically beguiling. More encouraging, the film doesn't take either stand to beautify or disparage the Neo-Nazi image, while love happens everywhere, so does gay love. An ambiguous deus ex machina aptly averts any cliché in the over-exploited gay-theme melodrama sub-genre although melodramatic might not be a meritorious adjective for a film under the background of a sternly violent context, but also demystifies the remotely tangible target to a humane understanding and transmits a positive message to the preconception-ridden society.

I found this movie to be absolutely stunning in terms of direction and acting. The two lead actors were absolutely great and believable in their performances. The director was great at capturing moments of erotic tension and tenderness between the two leads. In terms of plot and story-writing there are certainly some flaws that could have been better worked out, but I really appreciated the way the theme was approached and developed. The neo nazi ideology was certainly one of the main themes but the director and the writers weren't too judgmental and they let the characters shine regardless of the reasons that brought them to be a part of such a violent and racist community. I certainly advice to watch it, cause it gives a good depiction of a "different" homosexual relationship not framable in the usual stereotypes of gay love. Good job!

I rarely take the time to sit down and write a review after watching movies, but for Brotherhood I opted to make an exception. This movie was so wonderfully composed I hardly know where to begin. It had everything I look for in a movie, depth, superb acting, chemistry between characters, intriguing/thought provoking plot, and a well-choreographed cinematography.

Let's just start with the two main characters, Lars and Jimmy. I mentioned already that the two of them had great chemistry, and nowhere is that more apparent then in scenes where the two of them become intimate. There is a wonderful tenderness between the two that is communicated simply through body language and fleeting glances. You can tell exactly what they're thinking about one another with every glance.... the fear, hesitation, longing, it's all said without words. Beautifully done.

What makes the relationship between Lars and Jimmy even more striking is by having it take place against the backdrop of the intolerant Neo-Nazi organization that both men belong to. It adds a whole new sense of irony and suspense to the story, while also casting a looming sense of foreboding over their entire relationship.

You just know after watching the beginning scene (in which a gay man is brutally beaten into hospitalization by the brotherhood), that something terrible is going to happen to Jimmy and Lars if anyone ever finds out. I found myself biting my nails through the whole movie just hoping that they'd avoid that type of situation.

Unfortunately, there is a fair bit of violence at the end, but perhaps not from places you might expect it from initially. In any case, I felt more or less content with how the director chose to resolve the film. He didn't pretty anything up for us or give us a fairytale ending by any means, but he didn't completely crush our spirits either.

What he did do was deliver us a movie that was both deeply moving and tragically human. Mistakes were made, pain was delivered, betrayals were made, but intertwined throughout all the bad, there was beauty, compassion, acceptance, and love. It was a great movie and I would definitely recommend it to others without hesitation.

My one qualm with this movie has to do with Jimmy's background story. I would have liked just a bit more information as to what really motivated him to join the Aryan Brotherhood in the first place. Other than that, it was wonderful!

As soon as a movie starts, I start thinking about how I'm going to review it. For the first 40 minutes, I thought I was going to throw this movie in the gutter where it belonged when I reviewed it, because for all that time there's practically nothing but revolting Nazi crap. It's very, very hard to sit through. The first scene is the violent beating of a cruising gay man by a skinhead who had come on to him and told him how beautiful he was before calling out his gang to beat and kick the guy to a pulp (an incident that re-enters the story significantly near the end).

After that are long scenes of the ugly Nazis (the men are physically as well as morally ugly) spewing their toxic garbage into my ears where it was not welcome. But then... ah, then... at about the 41-minute mark, Lars and Jimmy start looking at each other in a new way, and EVERYTHING changes. The first 40 minutes of hateful garbage are well worth suffering through to get to that exquisite tenderness and passion.

Thure Lindhardt as Lars is a gentle, enormously attractive beauty from his first scene to his last, but the character is pretty flat: steady and strong but not very interesting. David Dencik got the meaty role in Jimmy, and he pulls it off brilliantly. He is completely believable both as the bitter, arrogant, brutal Nazi homophobe and as the sweet, gentle, deeply vulnerable and passionate man who eventually emerges from that hateful shell. If the first third of the movie had not been so revolting, Jimmy's emergence from that horrible world would not have been so marvelous. And it IS marvelous, some of the loveliest acting I have ever seen.

Raw, naked, totally defenseless vulnerability is something rarely seen in movies, particularly from male actors. In fact the ONLY previous example that comes to mind is Jane Fonda fairly early in her career - in Klute and even more powerfully earlier in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Fonda, in both those roles, had been beaten down by a cruel system she was helpless against; but Dencik is breaking out - against his own will - from within an even more brutal system in which he has been on top and on which he has been completely dependent for his identity.

He discovers that he's just like the guys he's been attacking, and that discovery shatters him. It shatters him, but it finally begins to set him free to be himself for the first time. It's a very great performance that makes an otherwise mediocre movie (deeply offensive when it's not simply unbelievable) well worth watching. The transformation just in his eyes is astonishing. All eight stars are for him.

The strength of this movie definitely lies with the brilliant actors in it and the director's ability to let them shine.

I didn't expect the story and the plot to be perfect and it wasn't. The main character Lars' decision to get involved with the Nazi community is a tiny bit contrived but no more than you would expect when it is told with a few short scenes before the movie is allowed to focus on the human aspects of the story and dwell on the consequences of the character's action without being judgmental or painting any of the characters solely in black or white. Something that is rather a bit of an achievement with this particular subject matter. Enough good cannot be said of the amazingly honest and heart-wrenching performances of the two lead actors. They are both incredibly talented and the director obviously appreciated this. The result is a chilling but also a very intimate and at times tender film. Well worth seeing.