Almost Brothers (2004/Global Lens Collection/First Run Features)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: C     Film: B-

 

 

When the counterculture movement shook the world in the 1960s, it was not just restricted to one country, but was a worldwide movement.  Often written off as just some artificially-launched event by Soviet/Communist powers ignoring the fact that communist was never monolithic, ultra-Right Wing forces used this then (and in a current resurgence now) against anyone who disagrees with them in any way, shape or form without excuse.  Lucia Murat’s film Almost Brothers (2004) examines the return of the repressed as two friends of different colors and races.

 

Miguel and Jorge, meet up again three decades later when all they fought for and wished for landed them up political prisoners of the right, whose intends failed to change the caste system and vicious cycle of poverty they had hoped could be corrected all those years ago.  Now, Jorge is the jailed leader of a gang and Miguel thinks that by freeing him, he can possibly free Brazil by picking up where they left off and making things work.

 

A gritty, smart, well-acted, mature work, the film can be brutally honest about the human condition and world politics that has rightly brought comparison to the most distinct Third-World Cinema (calling it burgeoning/growing markets cinema is highly inaccurate) of recent years, yet it also serves as a microcosm of how the World Economy and Globalization has and has not worked.  When the bad conditions of many have become worse, something needs to be reevaluated and the title of the film goes beyond the lead characters.

 

The 1.85 X 1 image is soft, can look digitally combed, lacks detail & depth and has some color issues.  Still, the film is gritty enough to get away with some of these flaws.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is simple at best hand possesses no surrounds here.  Extras include a PDF discussion guide and two pieces on other entries in this impressive series.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo