Brotherhood

Western welfare, alienation from success-based society, yearning for order and clarity - those are the benchmarks of the events taking place in Broderskab, where fanning Nazis and feeling same-sex attraction - supposedly excluding - melt into a tense and varied narration full of strong feelings, both good and bad. Well, the script seems realistic, but not so catchy and novel (the beginning and ending are, though), but the whole mood and strong performances (particularly Thure Lindhardt as Lars, David Dencik as Jimmy, Nicolas Bro as Michael/"Tykke") provide the film with suitable depth and versatility. In spite of the fact that the looks of Dencik is not so gay at all. On the other hand, as Danish drama films are so high-class, then, according to me, Broderskab is not among the finest ones. Definitely good and recommended to watch, but not in my respective personal Top10. Thus, "only" 7 points from me. But strong points still...

I read a review saying that this movie is the same as brokeback montain..not at all..so it's better that we watch it ourselves before being influenced by the review ... hahaha..it's true that you can't fight BBM because the instructions from ang lee are already international. .the only thing I want to say is that this movie has a different storyline ... whatever I understand, BBM is the best of the best..until now I remember ... haha..in this movie I will probably get that happiness again, but from BBM only memory will be carried ...happy watching...

I never wrote a review before,but this movie demands it.This is one of those rare movies that had a truly stunning effect on me and i couldn't get it out of my head for days.What makes this movie an excellent one is the brilliant performance of the two lead actors, and the ability of the director to depict such a sensitive subject with true artistry, without making it seem exaggerated in any way. The director manages to illustrate the highly unusual love story that makes the central theme of the movie with much tenderness, although we are talking about the relationship of two men coming from a violent and cruel environment. The two protagonists, Jimmy and Lars meet when the latter joins a neo-nazi group,of which Jimmy has been and old member,pretty high in the hierarchy. When Jimmy unwillingly becomes Lars' tutor, the two begin to form a bond that slowly develops into love and eventually turns into a passionate love affair.The chemistry of the two actors is amazing, making their scenes, especially the intimate ones, look very natural and believable. Added to this is their subtle body language, which in many cases becomes a substitute for dialog, managing to express much more than words. Despite the numerous tender moments, this is far from being an idyllic romance. The whole atmosphere of the movie is quite tensioned, which I actually liked, because it was obvious that their illicit relationship sooner or later will be discovered, and the members of the "Arian Brotherhood" won't be exactly thrilled about it. Although basically a love story, this movie is about so much more. The exceptional directing skills of Nicolo Donato managed to make it also into a story about hypocrisy, betrayal,revenge, and also a meditation over the multiple meaning of the term "brotherhood": we have the brotherhood between the members of the neo-nazi group, who betrayed one of them without hesitation when he broke the rules,also betraying them in his own way;we also have the literal brotherhood of Patrick and Jimmy: while Jimmy hesitates between his "brotherly" obligations as a member of the neo-nazi group and sibling of Patrick, and his lover, Patrick also has his own little drama, being torn between the option of betraying his brother for the sake of the group, or keeping his mouth shut for the sake of his brother. We can also consider a sexual "brotherhood" between the two protagonists, who eventually has given up on everything for each other. As we expect, their romance ends with tragedy, but not all hope is crushed, as we are being left with a somehow optimistic view,given by Patrick's last words.

Ah, the magic and confusing explosive mixture of machismo and sexuality!!! There is no other institution with such discomfort at the mention of homosexuality, than the military. It certainly makes a lot of sense. If your purpose is spilling of the blood, what do you do with arousal and men loving ? Well, the skinheads are based on the same false patriotic and quasi-military principals. Shaved heads, extremely tight pants, loud music, cheap beer, and almost exclusively male company.No surprise than, that Lars and Jimmy hit it off so well nor that it ended so badly. Nothing filthier than moronic notions of purity, racial or sexual. The nature of humankind is exactly the lack of purity and aching imperfection of us all. Whenever you try to take that away, you destroy the essence of our existence.where do you go after that?

at first sigh, a strange , unrealistic story. at the second, a good job. in fact, only a hypothesis about a men click and the clash between feelings and ideology. not new idea but used in wise manner. cold, cruel, with subtle references to Greek mythology, Brotherhood has a lot of virtues. the acting, the script, the set, the atmosphere, the not comfortable situations, the culture of hate against an exotic form of heresy. a film who propose a bitter subject who could not be represented only by gay relation but the manner to define the pillars of national identity, the courage and the national virtues. a film about a group and its broken rules. and a brilliant art of exploration of details.

Sense of love, hate or life. Sense of gestures and words. Sense of meetings and guilty, justice and feelings. Sense of punishment. A movie about neo-Nazi group and a young man in search of his place. A gray world. And answer to solitude. Images of intolerance, hypocrisy and self escape. A gay movie. At first sight. In fact, picture of crisis. Crumb from a real/imaginary Danish life style. A love accident as answer to deep problems. Like essence of two existences. The story is interesting, the acting is good, the script is balancing exercise but important is only the last images. A hospital. Two men. And the hidden words. The look of innocent traitor. And the game of facts as trace of snail. Source of questions, this film must see. Not exactly for tale. Maybe , as antidote against intolerance and prejudices. But the real motif is just the temptation to discover world beyond its skin. That is all !

This is a cheap "remake" of the far superior movie Brokeback Mountain. But whereas Brokeback Mountain was a fully realized movie, this one is rushed and so cliché it hurts. Skip Brotherhood and watch Brokeback Mountain instead - you'll be happy with that decision.

This is one of the most amazing films I have seen in past months. There are some many details that you have to take into account... The fact that the director tried to establish a parallel between the army and the neo Nazi group, the main character's parents push him aside and let him into the group. To me, it's all about the need of belonging, that need we all have as humans. Another interesting fact is that there are no frequent computers, no cellular phones, it almost makes the story timeless. Lars is really a Nordic character because he does not quit when faced with trouble. So, If you take a deep look the film is powerful, full of knowledge, love, passion. It's so sad that sometimes we have to find strength, hope, love among those who cannot grow - parents, groups, enraged people. This film is real just like pure emotions. They slide into you and make you human.

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.

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.