Is the western dead? Are you joking? Are you serious? Counterexamples of this have been cited time and time again in recent years, from “Django Unchained” to “Bone Tomahawk.” Anyone who follows the often written-off Western genre knows that you can still expect really good films today. One of these is ‘The Sisters Brothers’ by Jacques Audiard, creator of ‘Where the Sun Rises in Paris’.
Haven’t you seen the film starring Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”), John C. Reilly (“Boogie Nights”), Jake Gyllenhaal (“Brokeback Mountain”) and Riz Ahmed (“The Sound Of Metal”) yet? Then you have to be quick, because only until October 20th You can easily get “The Sisters Brothers” with a subscription from Amazon Prime Video to overtake. It is worth it!
That’s what ‘The Sisters Brothers’ is about
Hermann Kermit Warm (Riz Ahmed) would die. The mastermind behind this planned murder is the mysterious and powerful man known only as “The Commodore” (Rutger Hauer). His henchmen Eli (John C. Reilly) and Charlie Sisters (Joaquin Phoenix) must carry out this order. While ruthless Charlie loves whiskey and killing people, thoughtful Eli gets into trouble on his way from Oregon City to the gold mines in Sacramento.
The immoral way to make a living is no longer what Eli wants to do. However, there is not much time to linger in doubt, because the two brothers’ journey is repeatedly interrupted by bloody encounters. Their contact Jim Morris (Jake Gyllenhaal) is also hot on Hermann’s heels and always seems to be one step ahead of the brothers…
Not your typical western
Director Jacques Audiard, one of the greatest French filmmakers of today and who has achieved impressive highlights with, among others, ‘A Prophet’ and ‘The Taste of Rust and Bone’, adapts the novel of the same name by Patrick DeWitt. As the official FILMSTARTS review says: “Audiard pulls a host of the wickedly funny lines of dialogue and banalities straight from the original, which are also sympathetically implemented by its playful actors.”
In fact, ‘The Sisters Brothers’ is a western that can often be laughed at, which is precisely due to the excellent chemistry between John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix, who play wonderfully nonchalantly (and pleasantly emotionally at the right time) as a brotherly team. The moments when the Sisters Brothers first enter a big city and are completely fascinated by all the distractions in their own individual way are hilarious.
While Jacques Audidard always undermines the Western genre and likes to end wild shootings in such a way that they lead to no results, one or two weaknesses also become apparent. This also includes the visual direction of the film:
“While there are some really beautiful landscape shots, most of the time the camera not only gets very close to the characters, but also follows them very closely. However, this is not always convincing: when the digital handheld camera wanders between the individual protagonists, the cinematic feeling is sometimes lost. Instead, the individual scenes appear as if a theater performance is being recorded and the cameraman is running around the stage.”
Still, ‘The Sisters Brothers’ is recommended for all western fans, if only thanks to the great cast.
Author: Pascal Reis
Source : Film Starts
I am Dawid Malan, a news reporter for 24 Instant News. I specialize in celebrity and entertainment news, writing stories that capture the attention of readers from all walks of life. My work has been featured in some of the world’s leading publications and I am passionate about delivering quality content to my readers.
