The
above may seem rather minimal, but, breaking with tradition, we have "given
away" practically everything. Brothers and Sisters is a rare
example of the way our readers could profit from this. Knowing that there
are no major central conflicts in the trail-blazing developments of the
main characters, they can concentrate more on the life of the youngsters
from the Berlin borough of Kreuzberg, the German-Turkish substrate generation
– without waiting for an involved plot. And this way of life seems remarkably
like a constant conflict. Cultural origins are questioned or challenged
and Erol is already so stressed out that every little thing ends up as
an emotionally-charged macho trip.While the characters' emotions will appear Turkish to a purely German audience, the structure of the film is very German. Loved here as in no other land, films set in Berlin are often enriched with scenes sneered in, for example, the USA: a subway train arriving at a station, or the characters walking along the street with no particularly important information being imparted. The latter, especially, has become an art form in Brothers and Sisters. Although, in this context, this is perhaps the only film in which this makes sense, because many of the youths protrayed, like once Tamer Yigit who plays Erol, really do spend much of their time wandering around in cliques. Indeed, Brothers and Sisters is already being seen as a sort of neighbourhood road movie without a car. Many incidental details can be recognised, like the constant phlegm-throwing, the greeting rituals in which, in contrast to the usual German hetero reserve, everyone knows that everyone has noticed everyone else (here with coded handshakes, the double kiss on the cheek is only seen once between strangers), as well as the debts lightly taken on by anyone who has a mark to spare. Only with one character, though, to avoid inventing new clichés. Or the occasionally rough police raid based on nothing more than the fact that the youths look suspiciously Turkish. Brothers and Sisters also avoids trying to portray every single leisure activity. Ritualised visits to atmospheric hashish cafés, or group sessions at the kerhanes, hidden, cheap bordellos, are not mentioned here. The music, also led by Yigit, is in contrast rather atypical. Let us hope that it is not taken up as a Kreuzberg rap, turning Brothers and Sisters into a kind of German Hood film.
Thomas Arslan's second feature film often gives rise to a better laugh than you get from German comedy. The best dialogues are those with Leyla, who has no problems with headscarves and arranged marriage, but is the most secure of the three. However, in contrast to her brothers, she has little else to do but talk about boys, or to boys about starting a relationship.
If you really need a good plot to enjoy a film and cannot pardon the odd superfluous shot, give Brothers and Sisters a miss. The rest will be pleasantly surprised to find that there is life in German cinema after Katja Riemann entertainment.
