Son Frere (His Brother)

 

 

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Well done. Simple concept but hits close to home. I liked it. The shaving scene was real and had a dark power about it.

Casting, acting, photography, and music are all first-rate. This permits me to focus this review on the sad story of "Son Frere" itself.

Beneath the sad story of "Son Frere" lies a profound exploration of the many faces of human love, sexual and spiritual. There is the spiritual love of the two brothers for each other: the straight brother, who is dying, and the gay brother, who becomes his caregiver. Each of the brothers is blessed with a loving partner; each partner offers spiritual love to the other brother and to each other. The brothers have parents whom they love and who love each other and them, as well as their partners (in different ways). The hospital staff, the doctors and nurses, approach all of them, brothers, partners, and parents, in love. So does an old man who lives next door to the parents and spends time with the brothers at the seashore. The love is not perfect; indeed at times it is selfish. But that is the way with human love, and sometimes we learn and grow through that imperfect love if we can accept it and return it.

The film goes on to explore darker dimensions of love. The dying brother swims into the sea alone, at night, knowing that it is an invitation to death, but perhaps a death which will lift the burden of further caregiving from the people who love him and free him from a life which he no longer finds worth living. In the morning, the surviving brother surmises what has happened but does not take immediate action to notify anyone, leaving the body to be discovered later by the authorities and the responsibility for announcing the death to them as well. Did he come to think this was what his dying brother would have wanted? Or did he wish to spare everyone, himself included, the anguish of prolonged hope for his brother's eventual recovery?

It is difficult to say, for suffering can teach us love as well as selfishness. But that is the power of "Son Frere." It makes you think and question and feel as you look into the depths of yourself. A very rare film indeed: painful at times to watch, in an age where we try to hide the reality of death; but to watch it is to grow as a human being made in the image of God, who is present but never mentoned in the film. A masterpiece!

SON FRERE (His Brother) is one of the finer French films from the gifted Director of opera and film Patrice Chereau ("Intimacy", "Those Who Love Me Can Take The Train", "Queen Margot") and as in his other works, SON FRERE succeeds in drawing the audience along a journey that is not always pleasant (it is often even very grim) but one that leads to introspection and leaves the viewer the richer for having seen it. Thomas (Bruno Todeschini) is the older of two brothers of a small French family from Nantes. He was always the brother who satisfied the greater expectations of his mother (Antoinette Moya) and father (Fred Ulysse) more than his younger brother Luc (Eric Caravaca): Thomas lives with his girlfriend Claire (Nathalie Boutefeu) in a 'normal' relationship while Luc is a gay man with a constant companion Vincent (Sylvain Jacques), a life style never discussed yet never approved of by the family. Thomas becomes ill (Thrombocytopenia) and finally reveals his secret illness to Claire, his parents and, reluctantly, to Luc. As Thomas faces the cruelty of his debilitating illness (as dryly described by his physician played with great skill by Catherine Ferran), he realizes he needs constant care and asks Luc to be his caretaker. Luc complies ("It is something I would do for anyone" despite the fact that the two brothers have been estranged for years). Claire succumbs to the pressure of being unable to cope with the situation and Thomas and Luc spend his time away from frequent hospital trips in Paris at the summer home in Brittany. The film is told in flashback form from hospital bed to seaside house. The presence of a talkative, intrusive elderly (?prophetic) man (Maurice Garrel) gives the brothers insights into the meaning of existence and it is through the words of the old man that the brothers' relationship is transformed gradually but indelibly. Director Chereau has adapted Philippe Besson's novel by the same name with quiet, slowly paced dexterity, taking time to focus on all the aspects of terminal illness such as surgery preparation, hospital room pallor, and the cold truth about the inevitability critical illness. All of the actors deliver first-rate performances, never fearing the grimness of their feelings or appearances or immodest nudity. This is a film of great power, a film that challenges the intellect while reaching for the heart. 'Those who love me can take the train' could be transposed to 'Those who love Chereau can share this film.' A little masterpiece. In French with English subtitles.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Gritty Realism Defines Brothers' Relationship
SON FRERE (His Brother) is yet another fine French film from the gifted Director of opera and film Patrice Chereau ("Intimacy", "Those Who Love Me Can Take The Train", "Queen... Read more

Published on May 21 2004 by Grady Harp

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