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.

The Firm: A limp attempt at exploring football hooliganism

Football is a huge sport which is followed and loved around the world. There is a certain level of passion which goes into the sport which can be seen particularly in Europe, and delving further, it can be seen that England is one of the countries in the forefront when it comes to football. But a residue of the passion that goes into the sport manifests itself in the form of hooliganism which leads to violence. An attempt to depict this life beyond the sport has been made with the 2009 film The Firm which was directed by Nick Love.

In 1980’s England, Dom is a teenager who lives in with his parents and hangs out with his regular group of friends, especially spending time with his best friend Terry. When looking for something more to do with his life, apart from slacking off while working with his father and wasting time smoking and break dancing with 

his friends, he has a run in with Bex, the leader of a group of hooligans who strongly support the local football team. Bex develops a soft spot for Dom because of his wit and willingness to do what he is told and invites him to be a part of the group. Dom slowly gets drawn into the world of hooliganism by taking part in fights, visiting cross country football matches and shoplifting from local apparel stores when he can’t afford expensive clothing which will help him fit in. But soon enough, Dom realises that he isn’t cut out to be a thug and struggles to find his way out of a group of people who don’t take lightly to traitors.

The film doesn’t really do justice to the full world of football hooliganism and the passion that actually leads to fans turning into hooligans to defend their turf and their local football teams. The dialogues in the film are riddled with 80s British slang terms which makes it difficult for universal audiences to follow. The film also has plenty of references to local areas and customs which don’t necessarily appeal to an audience that isn’t of British origin.

In all, the film is less about the passion for the sport and the ideology of the fans and more about the stupid ambition of one of its central characters. Without even exploring the full identity of the character that pulls most of the strings in the film and the reasons for his behaviour, the film is just a limp attempt at documenting what football hooliganism is about but fails miserably. It isn’t a film which would be recommended to be watched.

Gangs of New York: A son’s revenge and the birth of a metropolitan

Heading into a movie directed by one of Hollywood’s contemporary greats like Martin Scorsese is usually an assurance of an enjoyable experience filled in with certain measures of thought provoking style and ideologies, and Gangs of New York almost lives up to the same. But all the same, it isn’t among the greatest created by the master. Sure, it does spin a good tale of underworld mafia rule in pre-civilised New York with the impeccable style that Scorsese brings to the table and a few intelligently crafted dialogues; but overall it doesn’t live up to the hype that is Scorsese.

Starting with the death of the protagonist’s father amid a battle of the ‘tribes’ in New York, the film follows Amsterdam Vallon 16 years down the line upon his return to Five Points having been raised in a home for reforms by Christian Missionaries. Amsterdam returns to find that Five Points is run by the Bill ‘The Butcher’ Cutting, the head of the gang called the Confederation of the American Natives, the very man who killed his father. While the gangs continue to squabble over everyday issues and the folk of Five Points continue to live in fear, The Butcher unceremoniously collects a tribute to allow the small gangs to operate and uphold the corruption among police and politicians which allow him to enjoy his endeared way of life. Amsterdam plots revenge on his father’s killer but is tied down by matters of racism, casteism, friendship, loyalty and love as he rises through the ranks to raise his own army to take down the gang lord.

This film goes down as another well stylised piece of art by Scorsese, adapted from a nonfiction book of the same title. While the plot divulges from actual facts at certain points, the film set in 1862 New York manages to closely represent most of the true events of the time. The costumes, sets and dated language are a credit to the historically placed film. However, the loose plot and constant flurry of characters leave the film as an awry final product. Certain historical inaccuracies and production errors also prove detrimental to the overall film.

Notwithstanding the few letdowns of the production, Gangs of New York circles around important issues which were rampant during the time including racism, slavery, gang wars, class divisions, the American Civil Wars, and more. As a whole, the film ties down important topics of discussion, whether for the right or the wrong reasons.