Within in Europe (and probably elsewhere too) there have been people who decided to go to Syria to fight there, usually with a religious motivation. Some return and the news about them is usually negative. But what do you do when you find out someone within your own family was seen last in Syria? That’s the idea behind Brothers (Broeders).
Hassan (Achmed Akkabi) and Mourad (Walid Benmbarek) are two brothers who receive information that there no longer is any communication with their youngest brother Yasin (Bilal Wahib). As Mourad is a soldier in the Dutch army, he can’t risk his job going there. So Hassan decided to travel to Jordan. That’s the place Yasin was last seen, giving drawing lessons in a refugee camp. It doesn’t take long though before Mourad also decides to make the journey. They find out why Yasin is in Syria and they choose to search for him and get involved in the war.
As you’d expect from a movie with this subject matter (and partly set in Syria), this isn’t an easy film to watch. Violence is, also for civilians, part of daily life and that has a huge impact on the brothers. Your life can be over any moment and some people have to use violence just to survive. It’s something Hassan and Mourad find out themselves and what that does with them. It’s a different reality, which is hard to understand. Director Hanro Smitsman also shows that travelling to Syria could have a different motivation to what we hear often and you are sometimes forced to take decisions, even if you don’t want to, just to stay alive. The end result is an emotional film which packs punches and stays with you for a while. It will make you wonder about the gray area which is present in every personal situation and decision and shows how that can impact someone’s family.
[score9]
Crickey, this sounds like a difficult watch, but well worth it! I think I’m going to have to give this a watch myself.
This was on Dutch TV a while ago so I don’t know how easy it will be to find it.