My Brother the Devil Review
My Brother The Devil is a social realism drama film. The film was produced on the 9th November 2012 in the UK and filmed in Hackney, London. The film was directed and also written by Sally El Hosaini. The producer's of this film were Julia Godzinskaya, Gayle Griffiths and Michael Sackler.
My Brother the Devil is a story about two Arab brothers living in the Hackney, which is a London Borough. Mo the 14 year old brother (Fady Elsayed) idolises his nineteen-year-old brother Rashid (James Floyd). Rashid is part of a drug gang which provides the money for his support to his family and Mo aspires to be like him however Rashid hopes that his younger brother Mo will choose a different path instead of the drug life. Rashid's best friend gets stabbed by the enemy gang, this is when things start to change for Rashid as he starts to question about his life ahead and if he wants to be the one with the stab wound because this would most probably happen. Rashid becomes associated with a photographer named Sayyid who opens up a whole new world and new possibilities for Rashid. The gang become to get suspicious about Rashid as he is changing, not turning up and disappearing for a long amount of time. Mo soon becomes part of the gang his brother tried so hard to keep him from, and then not too soon after his whole world collapses around him when when he discovers that his once idolising brother is gay. Mo decides in order to protect himself and Rashid he lies and tells all of the people asking that Rashid and Sayyid are involved in bombs for the Jehad's plot. Not to longer after however the gang discover the truth and they decide that they want Rashid to pay or even die. Mo will have to face his own battles if he wants to save his brother's life.
The genre for this film was Social Realism this was evident because you can see every social issue wrapped into one film. You see how being gay in their religion and community is considered wrong and disgusting which is evident when the gang want blood from Rashid for him being gay. You see the way the community is presented the large and extensive council flats representing the minimal wealth of the place. I think the genre of this film is presented in some very imaginative ways that show just how hard life can be but if you're happy then it gets better in most cases.
Micro features
- Mise en scene
The setting of this film was presented to us in a run down urban area which helps us connect to the story as the area in which it is produced is where many of these things would have taken place. We are shown a large expanse of flats and council houses which i think is good with the story that is playing out. Another thing that helps us connect and believe the story a lot more is the props used, each of the weapon you saw were realistic and believable which put you on suspense for a large portion of the film.
A good example of certain belonging that represent a person was when we were first introduced to Sayyid's apartment which shows a lot of wealth in my opinion because you are able to see the camera, bikes and quality equipment which is very expensive to buy, this could also mean that is he is a good businessman and a hard worker.
- Performance
I felt that the performances in this film were quite astonishing as they captured every emotion and gave them back to you in a believable and incredible manor. Each actor was crystal clear in their line delivery and their interpretation of the emotion that is needed to be presented for a believable and world class performance. Certain people in the film like Rashid and Mo's mother did not have a lot of lines in the film but it seemed like she didn't need many you knew from her emotion and performance what her feelings were towards certain news.
Overall i felt that the brother's performances could not have been topped as they put across emotions that were believable, love scenes which were lustful and love that was really never broken just cracked a little.
- Sound
The sounds presented to us in this film seemed to differ from one song to the next, from that genre to another.
The rap music is heard when in the start firstly Rashid is with the gang and then later on you hear it again when Mo is over at the house with the gang. The music i think represents the intensity and fast track lifestyle they have and how some aspects you don't understand you just sit back and listen that reminds me of the music being shown in film. There are a few other moments when the music fits in well to the situation and this is good in presenting the character and also the emotions. Some of the sounds used were used for effect rather than music for the film like the sounds of knives sinking into the body which in my opinion shows the raw lifestyle of the 'hood' and how anything can change in seconds.
- Cinematography
The cinematography presented to us in this film was fitting with the social realism genre and the feelings the scene were trying to put across for example the parts that were happy moments were presented in a way that brightened up the mood for example the lighter skies the happy birds chirping, these certain things brought out the mood a lot more. On the other hand when scenes were unhappy the skies were darker and the music was harsher. The position the scene is being filmed as well means that the point you want to get across will hopefully be presented. Each of these aspects really make the scenes what they are.
- Editing
The editing to this film was really well done because no scenes seemed to be missing which was good because it meant that each of the scenes were fitted together and none of the story was lost due to bad editing. I think it was very well done and very professional.
Overall i liked this film due to the overall story and presentation of different topics that made you think how hard it could be in different families and also different religions. I really liked the story and the idea behind it.
