Agnes & His Brothers (2004)
Picture: C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C- Film: B-
When a
film tries to imitate the title of a classic (Rocco & His Brothers in this case), you have to automatically
be weary of stupidity and pretension.
However, Writer/Director Oskar Roehler’s Agnes & His Brothers (2004) is a decent comedy about three
brothers who all have their own problems.
Agnes (Martin Weis) is a transvestite having the usual troubles finding
happiness and finding a place in society, Werner (Herbert Knaup) is in a
marriage where he finds issues with sex and intimacy that bring all kinds of
anger and trouble, while Hans-Jorg (Moritz Bleibtreu) is an outright sex addict
following women all over the place when not outright ogling them.
Instead
of being some kind of stupid pop psychology drama or a Gay film not so cleverly
disguised as a story about all three leads, it is actually a story about all
three brothers. Knaup and Bleibtreu are
reunited after their co-starring turn in Run
Lola Run and their co-presence is supposed to be an in-joke of sorts. Though the end result is not wildly
successful, the film has plenty to offer and has enough funny and interesting
moments to give it a look. Cheers to the
actors for all their brave performances, which save the film from its limits.
The
letterboxed 2.35 X 1 image is softer than it would be if it were anamorphically
enhanced, but this is not a bad looking film, with some funny shots that
enhance the humor courtesy of cinematographer Charly F. Koschnick (aka Carl
Friedrich Koschnick), who knows how to shoot a scope frame. The film was issued in theatrical Dolby
analog SR, but the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has no major surrounds. Martin Todsharow did the music that is also
effective more often than not. Extras
include trailers for other First Run titles, plus text biographies and stills.
- Nicholas Sheffo
