Deux frères

Am rarely moved to comment on what others say here, but Sarah from Canada's mindless and cynical response to TWO BROTHERS can't go unchallenged. Though far from perfect, I found this movie to be exceptionally entertaining on all accounts. Sarah claims there's no story, no characters, no moral ... on and on. Well, what she says is a complete crock: there is a story: it's about the two tiger brothers who are taken from their jungle home. The two main characters are not human, and I guess the fact that they don't have dialogue presented quite an obstacle for Sarah because she doesn't seem to have followed their story and its moral/ethical significance. Since the movie plays out like a fairy tale, realism here is not the point, hence the broad human characterizations. Rather, the most successful parts of the film allows us to view the world from the animals' eyes, and in doing so we experience their feelings, memories, and needs. I found this to be entertaining and at times quite moving. The film makers ennoble these tiger characters with such power and respect, I find it utterly mystifying that anyone could miss this as being the major point of the film. Please do not let negative comments like the ones from Sarah keep you from watching this terrific movie.

Two tiger cubs are born deep in the jungles of French Indo-China. The tiger cubs are growing up among ancient temple ruins, which will bring the outside world to their home. One of the tiger cubs is gentle in nature and the other is brave. One of the tiger cubs is captured when a famous hunter (Guy Pearce) goes to the temple to loot its statues. A circus buys the tiger cub for its tiger act. The circus trainer uses force to make him jump through a hoop of fire and be a true tiger act. Later, the other cub is captured, and the regional administrator gives the tiger to his son. The tiger cub tears up the house and has a conflict with their dog, so the boy is forced to give the tiger away to the king's animal museum. A year later, the two brothers are matched against each other to fight in the king's arena. The storyline about tigers in the wild and what can happen to them is somewhat ok. It is not a totally cheerful movie, but I did enjoy the parts where the tiger cubs were being brothers, and the ending. (Universal Pictures, Run time 1:48, Rated PG) (5/10)

DISCLAIMER: This is my first movie review, so please excuse me, if it is not written well, including the fact that my English is not good.

I just finished viewing "Two Brothers". Honestly, I've never expected anymore to see a movie of that class.

What do I mean?

These days there are so much new movies, which is so wonderful, because so many people now have the chance to express themselves and do a movie, but not many of them know how to do it. There are people, who do know and there are people, which do have talent.

I still remember, when I saw "The Bear". Not much, but I do remember it really got me with it. Years ago, there were really movies, that had what to offer to the spectator. I still prefer more, the commercial movies, but do miss the real good cinema.

And so, few days back I was just watching around the rent-a-video club, when I saw the title. At first, though it is yet another action movie, until I saw the front cover. These days, adventure movies are rare. The director's name immediately grabbed my attention and really threw me thinking. Jean-Jacques Annaud did another adventure? I did not read the text on the cover, just was thinking to myself... These tigers really reminded me of "The Bear"... Was it a little nostalgia?

Whatever it was, it is wonderful. I do not remember myself enjoying so much, for a long time. The movie is appropriate for most ages, with good plot. Very slight mixture of this specific old-school fragrance and modern computer graphic effects. It is so precisely mixed, that at the beginning You will never realize is it real, You are watching or computer-made.

In fact, the movie, I think I may say so, is sort of a masterpiece, but since I am not very competent of the technical details, will not discuss them, except mentioning just in brief.

Wonderful graphics, exotic views, well mixed sound, good music, great story, interesting point of views... remarkable.

A thing to notice here, is that it did not made me remember just of "The Bear". Actually in the beginning I was thinking of "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes". Annaud spend big amount of time, exploring the relationships of the tigers, the tigers and the people, the people, the people and tigers. There are some very precisely dosed moments, showing the two tigers in perspectives, You would really love to explore. I just love the way he did it!

You will never realize how these 109 minutes will pass around You, so better stop reading this and go see it!

Have a good time!

I actually don't know if I would take kids to see this film. Both I and my bf found it very difficult to watch all the hunting and killing scenes. While the film does not show any direct shots of lives being taken, it's very implicit and the movie does show carcasses and furs afterwards. I loved the story of the tiger "family" (even though I'm not so sure how realistic this is), but I honestly considered walking out of the theater due to the violence portrayed. That said, I think this film is VERY difficult for animal lovers (particularly those against hunting) to watch. Also, I think I would have appreciated a simple one line introduction regarding time and setting (unless I missed this or it was cut out of the EU version). I only knew it was set in Cambodia after reading the plot summary and I assume it was circa 1920-30's based on the costumes. Some background would have given the film a little more context in my opinion (Why were the French in Cambodia, and what was the this road they were trying to build?)

Started watching while doing something else & not paying too much attention, however within seconds, I was enthralled in the breathtakingly beautiful scenery, the characters, and yes, definitely the story! The story is there, so if Sarah from Canada doesn't see one, well, that's her loss.

I found myself talking to the cubs as they were trying to escape the hunters, roting them on, and yelling, "WOO HOO" when they finally escaped the danger.

The plight of these animals is all to real, unfortunately. If even one movie like this can help slow their extinction, then it's worth watching & becoming more involved with groups fighting for wildlife preservation.