My Brother the Devil

source: My Brother the Devil

MY BROTHER THE DEVIL has quite a lot of quality for a low budget, shot-on-the-streets type of British youth film. It tells the story of a couple of Arab kids growing up on the mean streets of Hackney, where they must intermingle with drug gangs and adult life in a bid to make something of their lives - or merely survive. Unfortunately for me, I've seen all this sort of thing before in the likes of Noel Clarke's KIDULTHOOD and ADULTHOOD, plus the wave of films along the same line that have been made over the past decade, and MY BROTHER THE DEVIL doesn't really have much more to say on the subject, other than to make a point of how ridiculous, violent, and difficult it all is. Director Sally El Hosaini elicits some strong performances from her young, unknown cast members, and the film is certainly watchable from beginning to end. But it's too familiar and fatalistic to have much of an impact on this viewer.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Rashid (James Floyd) is caught up with street gangs in inner city London, and runs in to a feud with another rival gang when his younger brother Mo (Fady Elsayed) is robbed by them while running an errand for Rashid's crew. But when his best friend is killed in a retaliation attack instigated by Rashid, he is forced to try and come to terms with his life and turn it around, while facing up to his own inner demons. Meanwhile, young Mo is forced to face some harsh rites of passage choices of his own. Just when it seemed like it had been a while, Sally El Hosani comes along with a new gritty British urban drama to shake the genre back up a bit. Little seen but critically hailed, it's lesser budget not holding it back at all, My Brother the Devil is an undeniably impressive but overlong and maybe even slightly over rated offering that is maybe guilty of over ambition in it's scope. Basing it's story at the centre of a bustling immigrant community in the sprawling metropolis of London, the film lifts the rafters on what has probably become a pretty typical, archetypal landscape setting for many parts of the capital, or even the country as a whole. It opens a rough, unpredictable world with danger at every corner and the price of life disturbingly cheap. In this it manages what many other films of it's type have already done, and in an above average way, but it loses it's way in a sea of complex, challenging sub plots that seem to be aiming for higher gasp factor as it goes on. Somehow, the central narrative loses it's structure a bit, while the performances and writing remain spot on. Still, if all the cogs in the engine aren't working, someone'll notice. This is an undeniably ambitious, well acted, daring, effectively shot, depressingly realistic and smartly written piece that doesn't deserve to have all those qualities ignored, but maybe got a little too above it's station and fell down from a spellbinding height. ***

There is a lot more to this movie than the title/synopsis tells. Very well directed, but the consistent high acting from everyone especially the teenagers, is amazing. The character development(and changes) catches you off guard....in a good way. It is advertised as two brothers on the streets of London, but it is really a coming-of-age story about how environment/people influence what we are and what we do. It is a slow-moving movie, so do not expect 'Gangs of New York' or some type of gangster action movie. This movie is for those that enjoy a good drama that you can remember after watching it. Recommended those like good old fashion movie-making, without the CGI, high body count or overpriced actors who can't act.

Usual depiction of drugs, guns and knife crime being not just the best but the only way ethnic minorities, be they Black or Asian can make a decent living. Am I being racist, or are the film makers, I'd love to see a film were an Asian or Black family travel to Britain, overcome the bigotry and work hard to create a successful business. This sort of stuff goes down well with the metropolitan sort, I.E. those who hand out awards. Then shock, horror when the townies and villagers say if that's immigration stop it, we don't want it here. Films like this are counter productive, they tend to excuse violent criminal behaviour amongst minorities as their only option. All criminals, be they White, Black or Asian simply want easy money without working hard for it.

You could cynically call this another "drug" movie that plays out, while using the backdrop of a family. A family that has more than a few issues obviously. But you wouldn't be fair to the movie if you did that. You might not be in the mood for the movie or you might have seen a similar formula being used before, but the movie is more than decent. You got two brothers (title is a bit of a give away), one deep inside the "business", the other one seeming to be too naive to be able to comprehend any of it. Still you can see that there is a lot of seduction (money, women, "fame") and it's difficult to resist. Or is it? Obviously things happen and evolve. While there is no nudity, sexuality plays a role, in case you were wondering.

Had the pleasure seeing this film at Sundance and was wonderfully surprised as it defies all stereotypes one might expect from such a "big brother/little brother/ghetto/redemption" flick. There is a very unexpected twist in the storyline which I can't give away for fear of entering a spoiler here. The approach of the filmmaker is fresh and unconventional and the film manages to keep you drawn in till the very end with redemption coming from an unexpected angle. Yes, there IS hope for mankind, ha! I am not sure whether this is any planned cinematic release in this country as of yet but it sure would be a shame if this gem gets passed by. Go see it if/when you can! FRANK WIGGERS

I saw this film as part of the Berlinale film festival 2012 (Panorama section). The intriguing announcement text on the festival website attracted me, yet fearing a lot of violence or even murder, given the environment of drug dealing gangs in which it all takes place, plus the main characters having strict opinions in their religious beliefs. Luckily, there is much more to it in this film. Everything is filmed at location in Hackney (London UK). The actors play more or less themselves, which raises an issue due to the Hackney accent that is not easy to follow. You need some time to get used to it, becoming more or less doable after a while. From the film makers we learned that it took 5 years to develop this film. For them it became more and more a difficult undertaking in the climate of today. On the other hand, one of the actors stated that his job was relatively easy, given the prepared script and all other things that the producers take care of. One of the positive sides of the film is the musical score. And the photography is commendable too, for instance the wide shots from the apartment building, prompting feelings of desperation, frustration, and hopelessness. A minor point is that the final scenes left me confused. Shortly before, the younger brother said that he had no brother, or rather preferred a terrorist as a brother above a homosexual. This seems not consistent with how the story ended (I omit details, to prevent spoilers). But I grant the film makers some slack, due to many other qualities, and maybe I was just not paying attention for a short while. All in all, I did not regret booking tickets for this film. And it is not riddled with violence or murder, contrary to my fears beforehand. The two main characters are real people, and their actions are understandable, notwithstanding that my beliefs and convictions are very different from theirs. For me, their credibility is the most important feature of this film.

Sometimes hype and award wins does not merit what you are expecting. James Floyd and Fady Elsayed star as brothers of Egyptian descent living in an crime-ridden housing estate in Hackney, London with their parents. Floyd is the older brother who is heavily with the gangland culture of the estate and Elsayed is the younger brother fresh out of school and idolises him. A death of a friend in a gang fight makes old brother reconsider his gang life and looks for a way out while young brother wants a way in. This storyline appears promising but the film unfortunately goes nowhere with its bad acting and boring sub-plots. A sub-plot even throws in a homosexuality storyline out of the air. There is not even any kind of satisfying ending to keep you watching. In conclusion, the film makes a mess of a good idea and I'm baffled at the plaudits it is getting. Being realistic is good but a film has to be entertaining which this isn't. Don't believe the hype.

There is a sequence in this movie, where one of the two main protagonists finds out he's gay, which made me laugh longer and harder than almost anything else this year. He has this arty friend, ya see (how original), and he ends accidentally kissing him while playfighting over a camera. After initially lashing out at the guy and denying it meant anything, not to mention a trip to his girlfriend's house for a rather uncomfortable sex session to 'straighten him out', he realises he just MAY be a 'battyboy' after all. So, back he goes to his mate's studio, where they proceed to do the dirty deed. All of this arrives out of nowhere, and almost leads me to believe it was inserted into the film by Stonewall campaigners who want the yoof of today to be less homophobic. The only problem is, the whole chain of events is so random and forced, it loses whatever credibility it might have had with the target audience. But that's the fault which brings down the film in a nutshell... Conflicts are too easily resolved, people change their mind without any motivation and stereotyping is rife. Everything feels half baked, as if there's a lot of wires here where someone forgot to connect A to B, C to D... and so on. I was not convinced by anyone here due to this, so found it impossible to give two hoots as they went about their uninteresting business. A far better demonstration of this lifestyle can be found in the recent Channel 4 series Top Boy, which is an uncompromising look at life in a council estate with a drug gang hierarchy. It has nary a cliché in sight, and doesn't seek to appeal to minority groups in unbelievably clumsy ways either... 4/10