My Brother the Devil: A coming of age for two brothers

The relationship between siblings can be quite an eccentric bond. At times, siblings want nothing to do with each other as they live their normal lives with their own peer group and, in other occasions, they can have a very close relationship where they have a common set of peers which leads to them spending a lot of time together. Quite often, it can be noted that the younger sibling takes up to the elder and consciously or unconsciously sees them as a role model.

My Brother the Devil is a story of two brothers of Eygptian descent living in London with their submissive mother and orthodox father. Beyond the walls of their well cultured building complex lie the streets which are rampant with gang wars and drug lords. The elder brother, Rashid, is neck deep in the mayhem as a drug peddler who is part of one of the gangs. He is trying to make enough money to help his family have a stable income and to try and provide a good education for his younger brother, Mo. Mo idolises his brother and wants to be just like him which leads to him joining the gang and selling drugs around the same time that Rashid decides to quit. Rashid’s journey continues as his best friend is killed in a gang fight and he meets a well off photographer who promises him a good pay for a full-time job. Rashid must pick between revenge for his fallen friend and a chance for a better life at about the same time that he starts getting confused about his sexual orientation. Mo, on the other hand, watches his brother drift away from a life he once idolised and finds it difficult to see his brother as the same person he once aimed to be like.

Most of the course of the film steers between the perspectives of the two brothers. The main protagonist of the film is the elder brother, Rashid, who is at a cross track in his life as he is faced with obstacles of being a grown, mature man. Rashid must not only pick the right path for himself, he is also aware that his decisions can result to a completely different life for his brother and parents. While his parents are unaware of his dealings on the streets, his brother follows him like a shadow and is most interested in spending time around his gang. For the most part, the film tends to be about making the right decisions while being true to yourself with a case in point being Rashid.

The film tries to deal with too many issues and highlights too many points. While the crux of the film is about a coming of age story of a young man, it adds too many elements including ethnicity, homosexuality, drug issues, family problems, gang wars, racism and the like. These issues are merely touched upon through the course of the film and not dealt with which tends to be a disappointment. Most of the cases are simply accepted as they are and let go off after a simple mention.

My Brother the Devil is the first full length feature production for director Sally El Hosaini and is a good effort. It does emphasis the difficulty of being a minority in a big city and it plays up the raw emotion that goes with it. The use of slang and manner of addressing each other which is seen in the film seems to be a typical raw use of language directly from the streets of London. Its appeal lies in the raw magnetism of being able to understand the characters. It does not have the appeal of the audience being able to place themselves in the shoes of the characters but it merely allows the audience to empathise.

The film has shortcomings since it takes on strong topics without actually dealing with them. Apart from empathy, it has nothing much going for it, but, all the same, it does produce a good story of a relationship between two distraught brothers.