"Brothers"
I happened to come across the original Danish version of "Brothers" in a bargain bin some little time back, and I've just had the opportunity to watch it.
I'm quite embarrassed that I mainly watched it because I was curious about how the story is like that Jake and Toby M. will eventually show up in.
I should have watched it for itself. It's a riveting, good film, tough on the emotions, with lots of quite intense moments - difficult family relations, love and guilt and pain.... and no easy answers at the end. No answers at all - except that life goes on, somehow.
At first I wondered why they would re-film it at all. I figured that apart from the characters speaking Danish, the re-filming would be unneccessary - the film stands solidly on its two legs and should be accessible to Americans and other English-speaking viewers. But then there were some pretty harrowing scenes from Afghanistan and I figured - this is it. The US film version won't be like this. No way. I wonder very much if I'm right in that..
I don't want to spoil anything, which makes it a bit difficult to explain. But Denmark (and certainly Norway) have not come to terms with the fact that we have combat forces in Afghanistan. We view ourselves as thoroughly peaceful nations. "The War" is still WWII, to people here. Everything else isn't war, it's peacekeeping. We have absolutely no tradition of being nationally proud of the armed forces, of soldiers going overseas to actually fight. I imagine this as being one of the distinct cultural differences between the US and Scandinavia. We do have national angst and debates about whether or not to have those soldiers there at all, it reaches right into the government. But pride? However that is, the public don't talk about the Scandinavian participation in the war in Afghanistan much. We know it's happening, but most people don't know anyone who's actually down there, anyone who's in the army abroad, and so it's allowed to remain a rather theoretical issue.
I would imagine that also impacts the guys who are actually down there, fighting. I'd imagine it might make a sliver of a difference to Scandinavian soldiers and their families back home, compared to what US soldiers might be experiencing. For one thing, our guys have not grown up in a tradition of the country honouring the army etc. - their experiences once down there must feel all the more surreal for that. And in this film, that might likely add nuances amd differences to how the plot plays out....
Also I feel quite certain Hollywood would want to portray the brother who fights in Afghanistan more - strong and courageous and heroic - than in this Danish version.
Anyway - it's a good film with a lot of stuff for good actors to use their talents on. Just from the looks of the two Danish guys I'm guessing Jake is the brother who's back with the family in the US and Tobey is the one who goes to Afghanistan? I think they should have gone for a somewhat older guy to play Tobey's role. And of the two, that's definitely the main role.
I'm looking forward to seeing the US version of this. I'm glad there is one decent drama still to look forward to from Jake, acting-wise, - as I consider "nailed" and "PoP" to be mere entertainment fluff.
Have anyone else here seen the Danish film?
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