For My Brother

Just remember that this is not a film to entertain you, but it is here to open your eyes on the child abuse issue. This is one of the major problems today we're facing around the world. All the governments had taken the strict actions on the matter, yet somewhere without being noticed domestically these things keeps happening. Such a theme was this film, which is not easy to digest the ugly truth it reveals.

Looks like a B movie from the Denmark, the production quality was decent, but the topic of the film was very strong and that makes it a must see even if you think you're not made for the micro- budget, not-so-popular films.

I've seen films like 'Trade', 'Taken', 'Eden' et cetera, but this is something a new angle about when parents are directly involved in the such dirty affairs. This story was about two brothers and their miserable childhood. After their mother died of an accident, they end up in the custody of their abusive father. Life won't be the same as it was before to them, but the eldest takes all the measures to protect his little brother. Unfortunately, it looks the fate is not on their side when a terrible thing unfolds after one bad evening, which leads to a chain of events before concluding the narration with a twist.

"When I grow up I won't hit my kids."

I am really lucky to find this film, which is yet to open its wings to reach the wider audience globally. I know this is not a film to have some good time, but might disturb you with its strong contents. Yes, the film has some of the bold scenes which strongly restricts for the adult's viewing. The film was shot in some of the beautiful locations, but what the story was dealing makes us to focus only on the cruelty the two minors are encountering.

Just watch it to believe what's actually happening in the families of child abuse history. If this is what the fate of innocent children in the first world nation's lower class families, then imagine what about the second and the third world. If you had seen 'Trade of Innocents' and 'Graceland', you will get a clear picture.

The director and actors are all the fresh faces, but given a one good product as the theme wise. One of the few things I did not feel comfortable was the camera work. It was very shaky and in the initial part it had given me a hard time to get used to it. Because of that kind of screenplay, it looked like it was shot with a camcorder.

The others were the nude parts which were a bit unnecessary for a little film like this, but they went for a bold statement and I appreciate that effort. And finally the story, in some segments it did not convince me, as they were way too off from real like the accident in the beginning and dragging climax. If you won't mind these things considering it is a B movie, this film is definitely worth seeing. So here it goes my recommendation for the grown ups only.

8/10

Aske and Bastian are favourite brother pair of all time for sure! The acting was awesome and the cast perfection. This is truly one of the saddest movies of all time but one of the best movies ever made. The plot and script are so well-written and flawlessly performed and the struggles Aske goes through are very heartfelt. I will be checking out Elias Munk's work after this masterpiece he deserves all the praise and awards.

I thought this was a really well made movie. The acting is always good enough, and even brilliant in some parts. The scenery is amazing. The characters are endearing, and make you really care about them.

I will say that there were parts which were not perfect. The beginning was a little weak, but good enough to provide just enough backstory, without going overboard.

I actually LIKE the shaky camera work. It really added to the emotional connection. There were scenes where the camera would jerk right as something horrible happened, and it mirrored the emotional jerk that I experienced. In fact, that makes it a bit metaphorical. Everything happening is so chaotic, frustrating and unstable, and the camera makes you feel that way inside which helps the viewer to connect to what the characters are feeling inside. I think it is absolutely genius.

The scenes of the natural tranquil beauty conveys the sense of isolation and contrasts nicely with the chaotic ugliness and violence which is happening unnoticed, as if nobody, even the natural environment cares. This, again, gives you a sense of compassion, and helps you to understand what the victims feel like.

The whole movie is full of poetic metaphor, and analogy. It is a true work of art, and actually pretty well made for such a low budget. You get a sense that a lot of thought went into it. And, all of this without the use of CGI, cutaways, sudden flashbacks, or any of the other usual Hollywood devices. It was so emotionally engaging, and thought provoking.

I like how the ending drops you off, and leaves you wondering how things are going to turn out. It was truly painful to watch, because you really understand how this affects the main boy, and how horrific this experience is for him. Several parts brought me to tears, especially the ending. Any movie which can achieve that is a good movie. Personally, I think that they pulled off something truly magical with this one, and now I want to see more by this director.

As for the subject matter, I think the writer was a little heavy handed in their approach, but it is something which does happen, and we really owe it to those silent victims to watch this movie, and understand what is happening to them. I think they managed to really make that possible with this movie, and I would strongly recommend it as something which all of us should watch.

When I watched this movie at first I found it very dark and sad yet masterfully produced. The camera work provides a very realistic atmosphere yet every single facial expression and gesture is captured clearly. And Elias Munk's (Ake) acting is one of the best I've ever seen. It was so well done that I could go back after a month and rewatched the brother scenes a couple times. The way the 2 actors portray the relationship between the 2 brothers is on another level the most realistic, beautiful, tragic brother duo I've ever witnessed off and on TV. Every single facial expression and gesture is naturally acted out the best cast especially the 2 brothers. Thank you for this gem and for bringing attention to such an important topic. This movie and Elias deserve to win so many awards.

In Denmark, a filmmaker named Brian Bang (not to be confused with American pornographer Brian Bangs) made a film about paedophilia and incest ten years ago called «For My Brother», with a certain sensationalist and voyeuristic touch, which was rejected by cinemas and television and in November 2014 it was released on DVD and Blu-Ray.

It tells the story of a paedophile pornographer (Allan Karlsen) who has been raping his eldest son Aske since he was a child, sells him to whoever wants to "use" a 15-year-old's body or see him in an erotic video, and threatens to replace him with his little brother Bastian if he does not submit to his designs. Needless to say, the film is not easy to watch, because Bang left little to the imagination and revelled in nudity on camera.

Bang took on almost all the key roles: he directed, wrote, produced, photographed, edited, was head of casting and art director. For some, the sloppy, "home movie" style photography seems like an aesthetic choice, but if you watch other films by the filmmaker (also photographed by him) the handling of the camera is equally capricious and careless, as an amateur would. The editing is gimmicky, and the script is an endless accumulation of tragic events that undermines the level of probability of the story.

Bang was luckier in choosing a cast of unknown and natural actors, who give the film some credibility, although the performances in general are poor. Perhaps the actor playing Aske (Elias Munk, who was 22 years old when he made the film and has since made a career as an actor and writer) has convincing moments, but they are few. The best scenes are when the two brothers Aske and Bastian (Christoffer Jensen) are together and seek affection, protection and tranquility.

Finding information about Bang (Denmark, 1978) on the internet is not easy either. Before this film, he made «Bunkeren» (2009) and «Ouija» (2012), and in 2019 the short about children «Zombies». There is little information about all three on the internet, although you can watch them (in Danish without subtitles) on his Bang Entertainment channel on YouTube and notice the emphasis on children and teenagers.

I'm not telling you not to watch it, but if the film makes you uncomfortable, you were warned.