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To say that "The Suicide
Brothers" is something of a whimsical bit of surrealism is an
understatement. "The Suicide Brothers" is an utter demonstration in
absolute folklore that meshes urban legend, Tim Burton fantasy, and as
an absolute demonstration of that classic tale of a figure seeking death
and finding it when they've stopped searching. Rupert Friend's "The
Suicide Brothers" is a look at two brothers in the dark forest of
Bavaria who take it upon themselves to engage in a ritual suicide
attempt almost every single night. Dressed in leiderhosen and donning an
almost Pinocchio-like facade, rather than seeking absolute life in their
reality, they instead look for death in a world that will not grant them
it, and they're incapable of really grasping their own fates thanks to
their own ineptitude and their fairy godmother who watches over them
every night and relies on their utter faulty planning to garner their
lives just one more night until they cease their attempts... or until
she's finally stopped caring.
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Keira
Knightley is an angelic minx looking on at Barath and
Bourbon as they literally begin their suicidal efforts like
clock work first over estimating the length of their noose,
then poorly loading their pistols, and so on until they've
likely had enough. Knightley is gorgeous as this godmother
who watches angrily unable to do much of anything to cease
their suicide except wait for them to screw up and eat their
baked goods begrudgingly. |
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Rupert Friend and Tom Mison are delightfully morbid as these two
gents who just want to end their lives in spite of living on
something of a beautiful however haunting landscape where snow is
abundant and boredom is infinite. Richard Van Den Bergh's visual
effects are masterful serving to compliment some awe inspiring set
design and brilliant landscapes that add that touch of whimsy and
tongue in cheek lore that keeps "The Suicide Brothers" on the verge
of being confused with something from Tim Burton in his prime. The
ultimate fate of the brothers is predictable but delivered with such
grotesque performances from the two men that it's quite harrowing to
endure. When all is said and done, "The Suicide Brothers" is a
hypnotic film, one so possessive of hypnotic and compelling material
it will have you sitting right through the unusual German dance
number performed by Friend and Mison. I guarantee you that final
song will be in your head for literal hours.
Destined to be compared
to Burton and Hans Christian Anderson's classic violent folk tales, "The
Suicide Brothers" is a marvelous little short fantasy about living in a
winter wonderland and passing the time by trying to commit the most
heinous of crimes upon ones self, all of which is foiled by human error,
and a disgruntled fairy god mother. I highly suggest sitting down to
watch this if you're in the market for classic folklore and irony.
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