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Don't be dissuaded by the bad reviews that appear here! This film is absolutely superb, nothing less than one of the best Westerns made in recent years. (To reveal my tastes, other great examples of 21st Century Westerns are True Grit, No Country For Old Men, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Bone Tomahawk, The Hateful Eight & Django Unchained.)
The Sisters Brothers is Jacques Audiard’s first English-language film after a forty-year career in France. It was adapted from a Patrick de Witt novel, and lead actor John C. Reilly also served as one of the producers. His interest level in the project is basically why the movie got made. Call it a black comedy with an emotional impact. Just when it seems to be edging toward lightweight, the tone shifts. Filmed in Spain & Romania by a French director, this is about as close to a modern Spaghetti Western as we're likely to get. It came out in 2018 and was a box office bomb in the USA, but given the simpleton level of American movie audiences, that is a badge of honor. While the plot twists are clever, it is primarily a character study. Many subtle changes from the novel were made in the film version, but the raw emotion remains. Forget Clint Eastwood's tight-lipped ciphers, the cowboys here are emotionally available, which allows us into their heads.
Regarding cinematic technique, one really neat trick that Audiard employs is a sort of film shorthand. The conventions of Westerns are so well-known that he can run us through establishing shots, etc., with just the barest hint and we get it. On to the next thing. (You only have two hours to work with in a film, so any time saved on story outline can then be used for more interesting & original stuff.) The movie has several moments of graphic violence that earn the R rating. That said, much of the mythic superwarrior aspect of the Sisters brothers is simply referenced, without needing to constantly show the actual gunplay. Veteran Western viewers will immediately understand that these superwarrior killers are cut from the same cloth as Blondie and Angel Eyes, so Audiard doesn’t need to spell it out nor draw us a picture. Back in the day, Leone needed to show the actual killing to establish his superwarriors as genre conventions; by 2018 Audiard can just have us hear the gunfire going on outside and then have the anti-hero come back inside, and we know what happened while he was out there, we don’t need to see it. (We’ve seen it all before.)
Another example of Audiard's coded technique shows our anti-heroes being pursued as they flee on horseback from a cowboy mob, but there is never any resolution with a showdown. The next scene just shows the brothers eating again by their campfire, making it obvious that they eluded yet another posse. In this way Audiard lets us know the ordeal that they are going through, but he can spend most of his screen time on things like their conversation at the fire rather than their amazing feats of gunplay. (Maybe this is another reason why US audiences did not turn out? ‘Muricans like to see those squibs constantly going off more than they enjoy dialogue or moral complexity.)
The fact that our two protagonists happen to be hired assassins is no more troubling to us than it is in Pulp Fiction. We care about them, and worry about their humanity. Comparisons are a reductionist way to describe a film, but I’ll bite: I see influence of Tarantino and the Coens in Audiard’s work. However, you can rest assured that it is original stuff with a European sensibility. (For example, I really like how plain and even unattractive the prostitutes are compared to the usual Hollywood presentation of jaw-droppingly beautiful perfectly coiffed babes in make-up. Such fantasy women popping up in US Westerns always take me out of the moment--where did she find a beauty shop?--but that does not occur here.)
Sidebar- I really like the modern film convention of treating hired killers as just regular guys doing a job. Why not? Most paid work in our death culture involves some sort of contract killing. For example, my father was a car salesman, but who can deny that lots of planetary death had to occur for those cars to be manufactured & sold so that he could live the good life? To my lights, Earth-killing manufacture and human-killing assassination are only different in degree, in how the murder is targeted and executed. If we can do a sympathetic character study about salesmen like Willy Loman, then why not one about hit men?
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Don't be dissuaded by the bad reviews that appear here! This film is absolutely superb, nothing less than one of the best Westerns made in recent years. (To reveal my tastes, other great examples of 21st Century Westerns are True Grit, No Country For Old Men, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Bone Tomahawk, The Hateful Eight & Django Unchained.)The Sisters Brothers is Jacques Audiard’s first English-language film after a forty-year career in France. It was adapted from a Patrick de Witt novel, and lead actor John C. Reilly also served as one of the producers. His interest level in the project is basically why the movie got made. Call it a black comedy with an emotional impact. Just when it seems to be edging toward lightweight, the tone shifts. Filmed in Spain & Romania by a French director, this is about as close to a modern Spaghetti Western as we're likely to get. It came out in 2018 and was a box office bomb in the USA, but given the simpleton level of American movie audiences, that is a badge of honor. While the plot twists are clever, it is primarily a character study. Many subtle changes from the novel were made in the film version, but the raw emotion remains. Forget Clint Eastwood's tight-lipped ciphers, the cowboys here are emotionally available, which allows us into their heads.Regarding cinematic technique, one really neat trick that Audiard employs is a sort of film shorthand. The conventions of Westerns are so well-known that he can run us through establishing shots, etc., with just the barest hint and we get it. On to the next thing. (You only have two hours to work with in a film, so any time saved on story outline can then be used for more interesting & original stuff.) The movie has several moments of graphic violence that earn the R rating. That said, much of the mythic superwarrior aspect of the Sisters brothers is simply referenced, without needing to constantly show the actual gunplay. Veteran Western viewers will immediately understand that these superwarrior killers are cut from the same cloth as Blondie and Angel Eyes, so Audiard doesn’t need to spell it out nor draw us a picture. Back in the day, Leone needed to show the actual killing to establish his superwarriors as genre conventions; by 2018 Audiard can just have us hear the gunfire going on outside and then have the anti-hero come back inside, and we know what happened while he was out there, we don’t need to see it. (We’ve seen it all before.)Another example of Audiard's coded technique shows our anti-heroes being pursued as they flee on horseback from a cowboy mob, but there is never any resolution with a showdown. The next scene just shows the brothers eating again by their campfire, making it obvious that they eluded yet another posse. In this way Audiard lets us know the ordeal that they are going through, but he can spend most of his screen time on things like their conversation at the fire rather than their amazing feats of gunplay. (Maybe this is another reason why US audiences did not turn out? ‘Muricans like to see those squibs constantly going off more than they enjoy dialogue or moral complexity.)The fact that our two protagonists happen to be hired assassins is no more troubling to us than it is in Pulp Fiction. We care about them, and worry about their humanity. Comparisons are a reductionist way to describe a film, but I’ll bite: I see influence of Tarantino and the Coens in Audiard’s work. However, you can rest assured that it is original stuff with a European sensibility. (For example, I really like how plain and even unattractive the prostitutes are compared to the usual Hollywood presentation of jaw-droppingly beautiful perfectly coiffed babes in make-up. Such fantasy women popping up in US Westerns always take me out of the moment--where did she find a beauty shop?--but that does not occur here.)Sidebar- I really like the modern film convention of treating hired killers as just regular guys doing a job. Why not? Most paid work in our death culture involves some sort of contract killing. For example, my father was a car salesman, but who can deny that lots of planetary death had to occur for those cars to be manufactured & sold so that he could live the good life? To my lights, Earth-killing manufacture and human-killing assassination are only different in degree, in how the murder is targeted and executed. If we can do a sympathetic character study about salesmen like Willy Loman, then why not one about hit men?
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 29, 2019
Don't be dissuaded by the bad reviews that appear here! This film is absolutely superb, nothing less than one of the best Westerns made in recent years. (To reveal my tastes, other great examples of 21st Century Westerns are True Grit, No Country For Old Men, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Bone Tomahawk, The Hateful Eight & Django Unchained.)
The Sisters Brothers is Jacques Audiard’s first English-language film after a forty-year career in France. It was adapted from a Patrick de Witt novel, and lead actor John C. Reilly also served as one of the producers. His interest level in the project is basically why the movie got made. Call it a black comedy with an emotional impact. Just when it seems to be edging toward lightweight, the tone shifts. Filmed in Spain & Romania by a French director, this is about as close to a modern Spaghetti Western as we're likely to get. It came out in 2018 and was a box office bomb in the USA, but given the simpleton level of American movie audiences, that is a badge of honor. While the plot twists are clever, it is primarily a character study. Many subtle changes from the novel were made in the film version, but the raw emotion remains. Forget Clint Eastwood's tight-lipped ciphers, the cowboys here are emotionally available, which allows us into their heads.
Regarding cinematic technique, one really neat trick that Audiard employs is a sort of film shorthand. The conventions of Westerns are so well-known that he can run us through establishing shots, etc., with just the barest hint and we get it. On to the next thing. (You only have two hours to work with in a film, so any time saved on story outline can then be used for more interesting & original stuff.) The movie has several moments of graphic violence that earn the R rating. That said, much of the mythic superwarrior aspect of the Sisters brothers is simply referenced, without needing to constantly show the actual gunplay. Veteran Western viewers will immediately understand that these superwarrior killers are cut from the same cloth as Blondie and Angel Eyes, so Audiard doesn’t need to spell it out nor draw us a picture. Back in the day, Leone needed to show the actual killing to establish his superwarriors as genre conventions; by 2018 Audiard can just have us hear the gunfire going on outside and then have the anti-hero come back inside, and we know what happened while he was out there, we don’t need to see it. (We’ve seen it all before.)
Another example of Audiard's coded technique shows our anti-heroes being pursued as they flee on horseback from a cowboy mob, but there is never any resolution with a showdown. The next scene just shows the brothers eating again by their campfire, making it obvious that they eluded yet another posse. In this way Audiard lets us know the ordeal that they are going through, but he can spend most of his screen time on things like their conversation at the fire rather than their amazing feats of gunplay. (Maybe this is another reason why US audiences did not turn out? ‘Muricans like to see those squibs constantly going off more than they enjoy dialogue or moral complexity.)
The fact that our two protagonists happen to be hired assassins is no more troubling to us than it is in Pulp Fiction. We care about them, and worry about their humanity. Comparisons are a reductionist way to describe a film, but I’ll bite: I see influence of Tarantino and the Coens in Audiard’s work. However, you can rest assured that it is original stuff with a European sensibility. (For example, I really like how plain and even unattractive the prostitutes are compared to the usual Hollywood presentation of jaw-droppingly beautiful perfectly coiffed babes in make-up. Such fantasy women popping up in US Westerns always take me out of the moment--where did she find a beauty shop?--but that does not occur here.)
Sidebar- I really like the modern film convention of treating hired killers as just regular guys doing a job. Why not? Most paid work in our death culture involves some sort of contract killing. For example, my father was a car salesman, but who can deny that lots of planetary death had to occur for those cars to be manufactured & sold so that he could live the good life? To my lights, Earth-killing manufacture and human-killing assassination are only different in degree, in how the murder is targeted and executed. If we can do a sympathetic character study about salesmen like Willy Loman, then why not one about hit men?
The Sisters Brothers is Jacques Audiard’s first English-language film after a forty-year career in France. It was adapted from a Patrick de Witt novel, and lead actor John C. Reilly also served as one of the producers. His interest level in the project is basically why the movie got made. Call it a black comedy with an emotional impact. Just when it seems to be edging toward lightweight, the tone shifts. Filmed in Spain & Romania by a French director, this is about as close to a modern Spaghetti Western as we're likely to get. It came out in 2018 and was a box office bomb in the USA, but given the simpleton level of American movie audiences, that is a badge of honor. While the plot twists are clever, it is primarily a character study. Many subtle changes from the novel were made in the film version, but the raw emotion remains. Forget Clint Eastwood's tight-lipped ciphers, the cowboys here are emotionally available, which allows us into their heads.
Regarding cinematic technique, one really neat trick that Audiard employs is a sort of film shorthand. The conventions of Westerns are so well-known that he can run us through establishing shots, etc., with just the barest hint and we get it. On to the next thing. (You only have two hours to work with in a film, so any time saved on story outline can then be used for more interesting & original stuff.) The movie has several moments of graphic violence that earn the R rating. That said, much of the mythic superwarrior aspect of the Sisters brothers is simply referenced, without needing to constantly show the actual gunplay. Veteran Western viewers will immediately understand that these superwarrior killers are cut from the same cloth as Blondie and Angel Eyes, so Audiard doesn’t need to spell it out nor draw us a picture. Back in the day, Leone needed to show the actual killing to establish his superwarriors as genre conventions; by 2018 Audiard can just have us hear the gunfire going on outside and then have the anti-hero come back inside, and we know what happened while he was out there, we don’t need to see it. (We’ve seen it all before.)
Another example of Audiard's coded technique shows our anti-heroes being pursued as they flee on horseback from a cowboy mob, but there is never any resolution with a showdown. The next scene just shows the brothers eating again by their campfire, making it obvious that they eluded yet another posse. In this way Audiard lets us know the ordeal that they are going through, but he can spend most of his screen time on things like their conversation at the fire rather than their amazing feats of gunplay. (Maybe this is another reason why US audiences did not turn out? ‘Muricans like to see those squibs constantly going off more than they enjoy dialogue or moral complexity.)
The fact that our two protagonists happen to be hired assassins is no more troubling to us than it is in Pulp Fiction. We care about them, and worry about their humanity. Comparisons are a reductionist way to describe a film, but I’ll bite: I see influence of Tarantino and the Coens in Audiard’s work. However, you can rest assured that it is original stuff with a European sensibility. (For example, I really like how plain and even unattractive the prostitutes are compared to the usual Hollywood presentation of jaw-droppingly beautiful perfectly coiffed babes in make-up. Such fantasy women popping up in US Westerns always take me out of the moment--where did she find a beauty shop?--but that does not occur here.)
Sidebar- I really like the modern film convention of treating hired killers as just regular guys doing a job. Why not? Most paid work in our death culture involves some sort of contract killing. For example, my father was a car salesman, but who can deny that lots of planetary death had to occur for those cars to be manufactured & sold so that he could live the good life? To my lights, Earth-killing manufacture and human-killing assassination are only different in degree, in how the murder is targeted and executed. If we can do a sympathetic character study about salesmen like Willy Loman, then why not one about hit men?
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 20, 2019
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 28, 2019
Top reviews from other countries
jos
The Sisters Brothers, blu-ray.
Reviewed in Mexico 🇲🇽 on April 7, 2021
jos
Reviewed in Mexico 🇲🇽 on April 7, 2021
La mejor compra en Blu-ray que he hecho en toda mi vida. La compré con el temor de no poderla leer en mi reproductor de Blu-ray, porque jamás indica la región en la descripción ni en fotos se ve. Agrego varias fotos para una mejor visualización, incluso una foto de la película que por cierto, me fascinó que está seccionada por escenas, cosa que no se ve con un DVD o Blu-ray normalmente, el HD es impresionante. Sin duda 2 horas valen la pena. Lo único es que está en idioma inglés, pero no pasa nada porque tiene subtítulos, así que está bien para los que no dominamos el inglés auditivo. Tres actores de primera.
PD. En mi compra venía un código que tapo por seguridad, dónde puedo ver la cinta en digital descargando la app Movies Anywhere App.
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Trickymouse
Good movie adaptation but not exact to the book.
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 11, 2019
