Brothers (2004 film)
| Brothers | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Theatrical-release poster | |
| Directed by | Susanne Bier |
| Produced by |
Peter Aalbæk Jensen Sisse Graum Jørgensen |
| Written by |
Susanne Bier Anders Thomas Jensen |
| Starring |
Nikolaj Lie Kaas Connie Nielsen Ulrich Thomsen |
| Music by | Johan Söderqvist |
| Cinematography | Morten Søborg |
| Edited by |
Pernille Bech Christensen Adam Nielsen |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Nordisk Film |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 117 minutes |
| Country | Denmark |
| Language |
Danish English Arabic |
Brothers (Danish: Brødre) is a 2004 Danish drama film directed by Susanne Bier and written by Bier and Anders Thomas Jensen. It stars Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Connie Nielsen and Ulrich Thomsen.
The film was remade as an American production with the same title (2009), directed by Jim Sheridan.
Plot
A Danish officer, Michael (Thomsen), is sent to the International Security Assistance Force operation in Afghanistan for three months. His first mission there is to find a young radar technician who had been separated from his squad some days earlier. While on the search, his helicopter is shot down and he is taken as a prisoner of war, but is reported dead to the family.
His wife Sarah (Nielsen) and younger brother Jannik (Kaas) both deeply mourn him, and that brings them closer together. They kiss once, but pass it off as the grief and do not pursue the relationship.
Meanwhile, both the officer and a young technician are locked up in a warehouse, kept without food or water. After Michael shows them how to arm and disarm an anti-aircraft missile, his captors decide the technician is no longer useful and have Michael bludgeon him to death with a lead pipe in order to save his own life. Eventually he is rescued and brought back to Denmark. The guilt of what he did forces him to lie and provide false hope that the technician may still be alive.
Michael becomes unstable, spiraling down into a pit of guilt and rage, and begins to threaten and abuse his wife and tear the house apart. It finally becomes necessary for the police to intervene. Michael overreacts, pointing a policeman's pistol at the officers. With Michael in custody, Jannik helps Sarah to begin the repairs to the house.
In the car, Sarah passes a sign reading "Statsfængslet" (National Prison). Her visit to Michael in prison finally forces him to admit the truth about Afghanistan.
Cast
- Connie Nielsen as Sarah
- Ulrich Thomsen as Michael
- Nikolaj Lie Kaas as Jannik
- Sarah Juel Werner as Natalia (daughter)
- Rebecca Løgstrup as Camilla (daughter)
- Bent Mejding as Henning
- Solbjørg Højfeldt as Else
- Niels Olsen as Allentoft
- Paw Henriksen as Niels Peter
- Lars Hjortshøj as Preben 2
- Lars Ranthe as Preben 1
- André Babikian as Slobodan
- Lene Maria Christensen as J. Solvej
- Laura Bro as Ditte
- Henrik Koefoed as Bartender
- Tom Mannion as Captain David Ward
Production
The film was produced by Zentropa in co-production with companies in the United Kingdom, Sweden and Norway.[1] It received support from the Danish Film Institute, Swedish Film Institute and Nordisk Film- & TV-Fond (Nordic Film and TV Foundation).[1] It was primarily shot on location in Copenhagen, Denmark; Almería, Spain, was used for the Afghanistan locales.[1]