Brothers (2017)

Directed by: Hanro Smitsman | 93 minutes | drama | Actors: Achmed Akkabi, Walid Benmbarek, Bilal Wahib, Ghalia Takriti, Mostafa Benkerroum, Jamil Zraikat, Dunya Khayame, Rachida Iaallala, Mahjoub Benmoussa, Semy Benmbarek, Sophie van Winden, Hamzeh Shaker Mahadin, Nairuz Ajlouni, Kamal Al Muinahaisen Yaghnam, Amin Safi, Yara Takriti, Mohammad Emad Alhusni, Qusai Imad Kabab, Ghandi Saber, Ali Elayan

In ‘Broeders’, a promising student at the Art Academy travels to one of Jordan’s many refugee camps to assist young war victims in a creative way. He is in contact with the home front using his mobile phone. He regularly sends videos to show that he is doing well. Until one day his family hears nothing more from him. The boy won’t walk in seven ditches at once, they suppose. They experience for themselves that the Dutch State thinks otherwise when they are violently removed from their home by an arrest team. The boy has crossed the border into neighboring Syria, they say. There are signs that he has joined a jihadist organization.

Their little boy who has joined a gang of religious killers. The Moroccan family, after being released due to a lack of evidence, still does not want to know anything about it. They decide to take matters into their own hands. The boy’s two older brothers will go in search of him in the war zone. The first, Mourad (Walid Benmbarek), is a hard-hearted soldier in the Dutch army. The second, Hassan (Akhmed Akkabi), a riotous stand-up comedian. The search begins in the refugee camp where they last had contact with the boy. It soon becomes apparent that he has indeed crossed the border into Syria. The opposites have no choice but to venture the same perilous crossing.

So far ‘Brothers’ is a gripping film that makes the emotions of the family left with many questions tangible. Once the two brothers flee to Jordan, however, a lot goes wrong. This is mainly due to the screenplay developed by four writers. It is not surprising that the two brothers as opposites regularly break out in bickering. It’s part of the journey, and the personal growth they will go through. The understanding for the other will increase. The prankster will become more serious, especially after seeing the war in Syria with his own eyes. The soldier will lose some of his rigid stature and realize that the warmth of family is there to be cherished.

Until then, the division between the two brothers is exaggerated. This is accompanied by a lot of dialogue, which in a sense deprives the viewer of the powerfully shot images. Because precisely because so much weight is given to the dialogue, the image loses meaning. The images of the refugee camp, the bombed-out Syrian cities and life among the ruins all serve the spoken word. And that while the image itself is perfectly capable of expressing the mood of the characters and their reflection on the world around them.

In addition, the quality of the dialogue is not particularly high. In fact, the lyrics that comedian Hassan puts in his mouth are often brash, larmoyant and pertinently unfunny. As a result, all the drama is sucked out of the film. Anecdotes about the war linger in clichés. The mystery about their brother never fully comes to fruition, partly due to some faint flashbacks. The emotionless ending achieves the exact opposite of what it wants to argue. ‘Brothers’ is completely written to death.